


ACID tears

by Mei_Jasmine



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, M/M, MTT - Freeform, Napstabot, Other, and ship tease with certain characters, because they will be spoilers if i add them now. shh., blooky, for now enjoy the blook and spook centered fic, just a heads up with undyne. she's not as major as the other characters, madsta, madstabot, major characters are the undertale ghosts, may contain angst, ships and stuff are all up to you, shysta, shystabot, tags of other characters who will appear will be added someday probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:45:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 117,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9090058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mei_Jasmine/pseuds/Mei_Jasmine
Summary: Undertale: ACID tearsA tale of the two ghost cousins, Mettaton and Napstablook.Mettaton is finally living the dream, and he kept his promise that he will never leave his beloved cousin Napstablook whom he fondly calls "Blooky", who now works as his professional sound mixer. It is thanks to Frisk's heroic actions that led them to the surface. What kind of life awaits them on the surface? How will their relationship further develop?Genre: Family, friendship, comedy, action, angst(*Disclaimer: ALL CHAPTERS HAVE EMBEDDED PICTURES MADE BY YOURS TRULY)





	1. A NEW FACE, DARLING!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, here's chapter one. I may or may not draw something dedicated to this chapter... since it's the first chapter, I thought it was only appropriate I put the titular picture I made as a preview not too long ago!
> 
> I hope you like it. ♥

###  **Chapter 1: A NEW FACE, DARLING!!**

  


 

“And that's a show! Great work, Mettaton!”

Apparently, there was a show going on. The show had just finished and all were dismissed for their well-deserved break. The star of the show was none other than Mettaton, the pop star of all seasons.

He was a robot that looks like a flamboyant young man. He had jet black wavy hair; a lock covering half of his face. His smooth metallic face undoubtedly attractive as his beautiful hourglass figure. His hot pink boots complemented his beautiful slender legs as he gingerly strutted over to the backstage.

The backstage had a few people managing it, but he went over to a particular individual. The one he called, “Blooky”. They were... a ghost with headphones operating the DJ table behind the scenes.

“Blooky, that was perfect!!”

“Do you really think so, cousin?” said the ghost Blooky. Their name tag, however, read “Napstablook”.

“Without a doubt, darling! That was the best performance I've ever had with the ambassador! Even better than our first back in the Underground!” said Mettaton as he hugged Napstablook tightly.

“Wow... I'm happy for you...” said the ghost.

They appeared to be a rather shy ghost with a melancholic disposition in life. But even so, Mettaton seems to be extremely close to them that nobody else dared to mess with them for fear that Mettaton may use his influence to disintegrate them. And why wouldn't they be close? They were cousins, after all.

After they had evacuated from the underground, they found a new life on the surface. The monsters had a challenging time when they tried to co exist with the humans. Some had tried to kill them, but thanks to the ambassador, no bloodshed had actually happened. It was a little easier for Mettaton to assert himself because he looked humanoid and he had a charming personality, so needless to say he was one of the people that made it a little easier for the humans to accept them slowly.

“How about those ghost sandwiches, Blooky? I ordered them to celebrate today's show.” said the celebrity as he snapped his fingers. One of the assistants came to them with unusual sandwiches on a tray. They were all... ghostly transparent.

Napstablook took one and began to munch down on it, albeit a little shyly. “Hey... can you still eat them...?”

“Sure darling, I can still-” Mettaton's teeth phased through the sandwich. His metallic cheeks seemed to light up a little in a shade of red. “On second thought, I'm not hungry at all. I just had some Glamburger™.”

“True...” Napstablook said. “You don't want to get any robotic flabs...”

Mettaton's cheeks were even redder... hmm, must be the LED under his metallic cheeks.

“Blooky, I will never get fat! I'm a robot!” said Mettaton, though he sounded like he believed his cousin.

The ghost took the other sandwich and then munched down on it... they appeared hungry, but they didn't complain. They looked at the flustered robot and then blinked their eyes a little.

“Cousin... aren't you getting your face completed today?” said the ghost, and at this, the celebrity robot's face lit up. Although not literally.

“Oh my, you're right! We have an appointment this afternoon. I'm so excited when I finally get my beautiful face done!”

He began going on about his face. He then looked himself in the full body mirror and posed a few times in front of it. He began examining his figure, his posture, he was very experienced in flaunting his slender body. Napstablook seemed used to this and didn't react at all.

The main reason why Mettaton's face had been covered by his lock of hair all this time was because it was incomplete; he was still lacking an eye and a few metallic implants and circuits so that he can finally say the body of his dreams was complete. 

The two cousins decided to rest in their own rooms until they had to go for their appointment. A few hours later, they came out of the studio and checked their bags and belongings.

“Now you didn't forget anything did you, Blooky?” asked Mettaton as he wore a beautiful silken scarf with a summer hat to go along with it. “I sure know I didn't. I have my MTT brand sunblock lotion and my MTT brand perfume. Eau de Mettaton, so you can smell like moi~”

Napstablook shook their head and went alongside Metatton. They walked to the sidewalk just outside of the studio and eventually met their driving service that will take them to their appointment.

There came a fashionable convertible red sports car, its hood down to expose who drove it. By its passenger door, there was a sign made of cardboard that read “METTATON'S ONE AND ONLY GREAT DRIVER NYEH HEH HEH!”

“METATTON! OH MY GOSH I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M WORKING FOR YOU NOW!” said the driver. He went out of the car and opened the passenger door for him.

He was a skeleton. A tall skeleton that wore sunglasses with... muscular arms, attached to his real arms. He wore a shirt over what seemed to be a battle suit. His shirt had the words “COOL DUDE” on it.

“Hey, Papyrus.” said Mettaton with a smile as he bowed in courtesy, and then sat on the passenger seat.

“HE KNOWS MY NAME! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! THIS IS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE, GHOSTY!” said Papyrus as he opened the door for Napstablook to ride in the backseat. “SO WE'RE GOING TO THE LAB, RIGHT, METTATON??”

“Yes, and please make it quick! You wouldn't want to miss my greatest transformation, right?” said Mettaton as he turned to him and winked.

“NOPE! AND AFTER THIS, I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU MY PRIZED SPAGHETTI! YOU'LL LOVE IT!” said Papyrus with much eagerness, evidently a huge fanboy of the celebrity.

It took them a few minutes, then they stopped in front of a tall white building. It looked modern; simplistic in nature but it had a professional aura to it. The three got out of the car as soon as they had parked the car in the parking lot just next to it. Papyrus escorted the two cousins, apparently more than happy to carry out his job and asked for an autograph from the celebrity.

They went through the glass double doors and immediately a cold breeze met them. The airconditioning system of the building was too much, but growing up in the Underground, this didn't seem to bother them much. They went to the elevator and went to the fifth floor, where the appointment was waiting for them.

“Mettaton, you're back!”

A yellow reptile with glasses met them. She was quite short and chubby in nature and she wore a white lab coat. She seemed rather shy, but not as quiet as Napstablook seemed to be. She hugged Mettaton and then nodded at the other two.

“How are you?? Undyne and I were just watching your show. You were amazing!” she said with a smile.

“I'm fine, Alphys.” said Mettaton. “It was, wasn't it? Even with my face incomplete, the show went on gracefully. I don't think you can expect any less from me, my dear.”

Alphys grinned a little sheepishly at this. “Of course. I know you'll kill them all! I-I mean... well, not literally! … Hehe... so are you ready for your face operation?”

“Always, my darling.” said Mettaton as he walked with Alphys to the operation room.

“...” Napstablook floated behind Mettaton and seemed to reach out for him, but they decided to stop halfway. They decided to float away to a corner and just stayed there.

Papyrus noticed this and as much as he didn't seem fond of ghosts, he walked over to them and called on them. “HEY UHH... WHAT WAS YOUR NAME AGAIN? HAPPSTABLOOK THE HAPPY GHOST? OH WAIT. YOU DON'T LOOK TOO HAPPY... THEN YOU'RE SADDSTABLOOK, RIGHT?”

“...” Napstablook just stared at them and a few moments later, they began to cry.

“WHOA THERE!” Papyrus said evidently alarmed and then he looked from left and right to see if anyone was watching them. Thankfully they were all alone. “H-HEY, I'M SORRY IF I HURT YOU!”

“...” Napstablook just stared at him and then they shook their head. “... No... it's fine... really. I'm just worried for my cousin... are they going to be all right...?”

“OH?” Papyrus looked a little more relaxed when the ghost finally decided to talk to him. “WELL, OF COURSE! I MADE A PROMISE, DIDN'T I?? I TOLD HIM THAT I'LL GIVE HIM SPAGHETTI AFTER THIS! I ALWAYS KEEP MY PROMISES!”

“...” the ghost finally looked a little better. At least they stopped crying. “Thanks...”

“YOU'RE WELCOME!” said the skeleton. “SO YOU'RE METTATON'S COUSIN HUH? WOW! YOU'RE SO LUCKY THAT YOU GET TO BE WITH HIM EVERY SINGLE DAY! I'M SUCH A BIG FAN YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS WATCH HIS SHOWS! SOME PEOPLE JUST DON'T GET IT THOUGH... I MEAN, ISN'T HE JUST GREAT ON THE SCREEN??”

“Yeah...” said Napstablook, sounding less hostile. “He's the best, too... I wish I can make it up to him in some way...”

“SAY! HOW ARE YOU COUSINS? I HAVE A SKELETON BROTHER... BECAUSE I'M A SKELETON! BUT I DIDN'T KNOW ROBOTS CAN HAVE GHOST COUSINS!” said Papyrus rather innocently.

“...” the ghost seemed to stare into his SOUL and just looked away.

“H-HUH? WAIT! I DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING BY THAT! I WAS JUST REALLY CURIOUS! H-HEY NOW, DON'T CRY! I'LL GIVE YOU SOME SPAGHETTI TOO!” said the skeleton as he tried tapping on their shoulder... but they didn't have shoulders, and touching a ghost wasn't physically possible.

The skeleton felt bad and just sighed. “WELL... I CAN'T BLAME YOU IF YOU FEEL BAD. I'M SORRY! I'LL JUST BE WAITING IN THE CAR, OKAY? AND RELAX, I'M SURE YOUR COUSIN WILL BE FINE!”

Papyrus left with a smile and then crashed through the nearest window. He basically just leapt through it and felt like an assassin as he jumped on the truck load of manure just parked under the window.

”THIS WASN'T THE LEAP OF FAITH I WAS HOPING FOR!!!!!”

 ***

A few hours later...

“OH MY GOD ALPHYS, IT'S GORGEOUS! I AM GORGEOUS! I COULD JUST KISS YOU FOR THIS!”

Napstablook looked relieved and to an extent, “happy” when his cousin came out of the operating room. As Mettaton was a robot, he didn't need any time to heal from the operation. He came out with a full face and a few improved features, such as polished paint job and a few added weapons and defense mechanisms.

He no longer needed to hide his face behind the lock of hair, but he decided to still style his hair that way since the fans have already recognised it as MTT style.

“Blooky!” Mettaton ran to Napstablook. “Oh, I'm sorry I left you all alone here!”

Napstablook just shook their head. “It's fine... at least you're here now and that's what matters... how are you feeling...?”

“LIKE A MILLION BUCKS!!” Mettaton looked extremely happy. “Blooky, I feel so complete now! My face! My gorgeous face is complete! I have jet pack boots so I can fly with you now!”

“Jet... pack... boots...?” the ghost seemed confused as he just stared down at the celebrity's boots.

“Yes, see? Boots with jet fuel that- AAAAH!!” Mettaton lost control as soon as his jet boots started. He was flying around the room CRAZY! He was flung to the walls, to the windows, to the ceiling...

“O-Oh my! Hang in there, Mettaton!” said Alphys in a panic and then took a remote control from her coat. It seemed to control the jet boots better and it made the robot land on the ground safely, albeit in a mess.

“Cousin...?” said Napstablook as they looked up at Mettaton.

“I'm gorgeous...” Mettaton seemed to have a few loose circuits. "Teeheeheeheehee~"

“I-I... hehe... I should have warned him to take it easy on the boots. Hey, you're his cousin right? Here! Have this remote control if it goes out of control again!” said the scientist. She showed them how it worked and which buttons stood for which.

“Okay... thanks...” said the ghost as Alphys fixed up Mettaton a little and put him on sleep mode to recover.

“Well, your cousin should wake up when he's fully charged! Which should be in... about... hehe... 24 hours??” she said a little awkwardly. “But don't worry! When he wakes up, he should be feeling just great!”

“Okay... thanks...” said Napstablook. “Um... we need to get going... our driver may be waiting for us...”

“Oh! Right!” said Alphys. “Wait, where IS he anyway?”

Papyrus entered the room with brown bits on him, a few flies gathering around him. He looked distraught and embarrassed, but he came to them anyway. With a smile, no less! “THE GREAT PAPYRUS, REPORTING FOR DUTY!”

“W-Whoa, Papyrus! What happened to you?!” Alphys looked surprised to see him in such a state. She instinctively covered her nose with her hands.

“I TOOK THE LEAP OF FAITH!” said Papyrus. “I WANTED TO BE LIKE THOSE ASSASSINS IN VIDEO GAMES... BUT WHY AREN'T THERE ANY HAYSTACKS HERE?!”

Napstablook looked at them awkwardly and began to talk. “He... umm... he took the leap of sh-”

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AWAY!!” said Papyrus as he took Mettaton in his arms and dashed outside of the building through the fire exit.

“My cousin won't like his smell when he wakes up...” said the ghost and then they turned to Alphys. “Doctor...”

“Hm?” Alphys looked curious. The ghost looked like he wanted to strike up a conversation, for once.


	2. Panic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that Sans and Napstablook's sentences shouldn't have any capitalisations whatsoever... but I feel like I needed to. Maybe in my future fics, I'll be more faithful to the writing style of the game! I haven't written anything serious in a long time, I hope I'm not losing my touch... anyways, I hope you like it! ♥
> 
> Had a convo with a friend that made it here about the Navy and the Marines.

###  **Chapter 2: Panic!**

  


“So you say that this missing person is tall, pale, and handsome?”

“And they have the most darling raccoon eyes that you could ever see! And they cry, they cry a lot when they're sad and when they're scared and OH, where could they be?!”

The scene was a sentry post by the entrance to the forest trail, but there were a lot of hotdogs and condiments inside of it... Mettaton was talking to the sentry in command who was wearing a blue hooded jacket.

The sentry in particular was known for his trademark fixed smile. He was quite big-boned, to say the least, in contrast to his short stature. He was a skeleton; he appears to be one of the monsters that had escaped the underground and is now adapting to the surface.

“I think I've seen them.” said the sentry as he made way to show the taller figure behind him.

The pop idol could only stare at the figure with his mouth agape; his face, although robotic, contorted with so many mixed feelings.

“Tall, pale, handsome, and the most darling raccoon eyes that cry when his spaghetti is missing.” winked the sentry at the pop idol.

“'TIS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!!” said the tall figure as he stepped forward and bowed in front of Mettaton.

“SANS, IF YOU TWO BOTHER BROTHERS HAD EARS I WOULD HAVE RIPPED THEM OFF! I'M SERIOUS!!” cried the celebrity as he slammed his hands on the sentry post.

“Chill.” said Sans as he whipped him up a hotdog. “Since you're Papyrus' friend, I guess I can give this to you for a discount.”

“No, thank you.” said Mettaton with his arms crossed, his face turned away from the skeleton brothers. “Boneheads.”

Sans just sighed and then drank from the ketchup bottle, much to the pop idol's disgust. He wiped his mouth with some tissue and then looked up at Mettaton. “Relax, if we do see them then we'll inform you right away. Sadly nobody's passed by here yet.”

“Oh, what am I going to do?! Ever since I woke up from my operation, I haven't seen Blooky... and that was about four hours ago. Blooky never strays away from his room for that long! THEY LOCK THEMSELVES IN THEIR ROOM UNLESS WE HAVE A SHOW! Sans darling, they're missing I'm telling you!” said Mettaton, looking desperate.

Papyrus offered him a seat and massaged his shoulder pads for him to try alleviating the panic. Mettaton looked a little relaxed, but he was still on the verge of tears. Sans just continued to munch on his sandwich until he finished it.

“Welp, I'm sure he'll come around.” said Sans. “If you said they don't stray for too long, they're probably coming back home by tonight. If he doesn't, give Papyrus a ring.”

“W-WHA?! SANS, I'M NOT READY FOR THAT! I HAVEN'T EVEN GONE ON A DATE YET! I MEAN, AFTER MY DATE WITH FRISK BACK IN THE UNDERGROUND...” said Papyrus squinting his eyes a little at his older brother.

“I'm sure you'll find the right size for his engagement.” Sans winked. “Here's his number. Be sure to call him if your cousin doesn't come home by tonight. I'll tell Frisk about this; have you told them yet?”

“No... not yet.” said Mettaton. “Thanks, Sans...”

“Papyrus, maybe you can go look after Mettaton for now? You can go around helping your idol look for his lost cousin.” said Sans.

“THIS IS ALL MY FAULT! I MADE THEM CRY YESTERDAY! I'M SORRY, METTATON!” Papyrus broke down. “IT'S MY FAULT THEY'RE MISSING SO OF COURSE I WILL HELP YOU! THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT BACK DOWN FROM RESPONSIBILITY!”

“I'm positive it's not your fault, darling.” Mettaton poked on his own screws by his eyebrows. “Blooky is such a shy darling and they do cry every now and then to release some emotional stress. Oh, Blooky...”

“Good luck, you two. I'll be going to Frisk now.” said Sans as he walked away with hands in his jacket pockets.

Mettaton looked horribly worried that he wasn't able to wave Sans goodbye, but Papyrus watched his brother walk away.

“YOU KNOW... THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME I EVER SAW HIM ACTUALLY DO HIS JOB.” said Papyrus. “SO... WHERE DO WE GO FIRST?”

“...” Mettaton kept quiet for a while as he looked like he was processing some data for a while. “... Well, Blooky loves music.”

“MAYBE WE CAN GO TO THE MUSIC SHOP!” said Papyrus with a smile.

Papyrus ran off before the idol can even say anything. He fetched his red sports car that was parked just beside a tree and then drove by Mettaton and then pressed on the wacky car horn to get his attention. It sounded like a horn from those old cartoons. He got off and then opened the passenger door for him, then they drove off to the city.

***

They drove around the streets of Monster City, a place where most monsters decided to settle in for their needs. It was also a place where some humans decided either to visit or to settle in; some humans got along better with the monsters than others, and so they decided to co-exist with the monsters in their own city.

Papyrus looked like he had memorised the streets of the surface already before he became Mettaton's personal driver. They drove around the city where most monsters lived; as there was prior conflict between the humans and monsters, it was more than difficult to get the two parties to meet. Even though life is now easier for most humans and monsters, there are still "speciest" or discrimination issues every now and then. And that is why most of them inhabited a small city called "Monster City".

It was named by none other than the former king of monsters himself, Asgore.

Mettaton was quiet for most of the time, that Papyrus decided to open up a conversation halfway through the trip.

“HEY UH... METTATON? SO THE COUSIN WE'RE LOOKING FOR IS THE WHITE ONE FROM YESTERDAY, RIGHT?” asked Papyrus as he drove.

The celebrity only gave him a nod as he stared at the road in hopelessness.

“OH, OKAY! GOTCHA! CHEER UP, I KNOW WE'LL FIND THEM! IF THEY'RE NOT THERE IN THE MUSIC STORE, I GUESS WE CAN GO ASK UNDYNE ABOUT IT! ACTUALLY... WHY DON'T WE ASK HER NOW?” said Papyrus as he gave Mettaton the phone. “ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PRESS THE CALL BUTTON.”

Mettaton sighed and then pressed the call button. He waited for someone to pick up.

“Hey, Papyrus! What's up?” said the woman from the other line.

“Hello... Undyne?” said Mettaton in a melancholy tone.

“...?” Undyne didn't manage to answer for a while. “Who the hell are you?”

“I am insulted you don't know who I am!” said Mettaton, his ego starting up. His eyes seemed to have sparked a little. “I am Mettaton, class S+++++++ top idol; and you are Undyne I presume?”

“Never heard of ya.” said Undyne, her tone sounding uninterested. “In fact... yeah okay, I remember now. We were watching you the other day, though I wasn't really interested. So what's up?”

“UNDYNE, I'M WORKING FOR HIM NOW REMEMBER??” Papyrus called out as he drove the car. “LISTEN, IF YOU SEE A CUTE LITTLE WHITE GHOST WITH RACCOON EYES, CALL US! THAT'S METTATON'S COUSIN!”

“Uhh...” Undyne paused for a while. “... Right. Yeah, okay. Is that all?”

“YEAH!” said Papyrus. “I'LL BE BACK LATER TO SHOW YOU MY LATEST TRICK IN COOKING SPAGHETTI! I WATCHED IT IN ONE OF YOUR MANGOES ONCE!”

“It's called 'manga', Papyrus... and you don't watch them, you read them! You must be talking about anime... HNNG!” Undyne seemed to be piqued from the other line after saying the last word. “ANIME IS REAL, I KNOW IT!”

“...” Mettaton doesn't even want to know what was going on.

“YES IT IS! SOMEDAY WE'LL FIND WHERE THEY ALL LIVE! THEY DON'T LIVE HERE ON THE SURFACE... SO MAYBE THEY LIVE UNDERWATER!” said Payprus.

“YEAH!!” said Undyne, sounding a little more determined. “Maybe they live on the surface water! They don't live underground!”

“Yes, that's fine and all, darling. We really must get going now.” said Mettaton and then he hung up. He looked more distressed than ever.

Papyrus took notice of this and then grew quiet for fear he may have made it worse. He saw that they were finally near the parking lot of a big music store about three stories high. Just across the road, there was a bookstore about five stories high. Just beside the bookstore, there was a mall where there was a big poster of Mettaton by one of its walls modeling for a brand of perfume. It seems that the MTT brand had indeed penetrated the market.

“HEY LOOK, THAT'S YOU!” said Papyrus as he opened the passenger door for Mettaton to try cheering him up.

Mettaton just strutted away and then dashed for the music store.

“H-HEY, WAIT!” Papyrus called out and ran after the idol.

Both of them had just gotten through the entrance of the music store. It was quite spacious and well-laid out. The classical instruments to be used for orchestras were in the first floor where they were; the electric instruments were in the second floor, and the percussion instruments were in the third floor.

“Blooky loves looking at all the instruments here. Go up the third floor, I'll check around here. Let's meet up in the second floor.” said Mettaton as he walked away and looked around. “BLOOKY?? BLOOKY!!”

Some people started crowding around Mettaton to get his autograph, but Papyrus decided to act like a bodyguard and wore his sunglasses. He tried to act serious, but he just acted so weird that it drove all the people away from them.

“...” Mettaton could not believe his eyes and just watched the people go away. “... Thanks, darling. Now... please go to the third floor.”

The security accompanied Mettaton as he searched in the first floor so that he may not be disturbed in their search for Napstablook. Papyrus went upstairs on his own and looked around the percussion instruments.

He was so tempted looking at all the instruments that he began playing around with the drums when he passed by them. He saw some maracas and then ran to them to play around as he waved his hips. He could care less when people started to look at him; some out of intrigue, some out of interest, and some merely out of caution.

That was when his phone started to ring.

“Papyrus, they're not here!!” Mettaton cried from the other line. “Are they there at all?”

“UHH...” Papyrus looked around the crowd he had drawn and thought it was a pretty good way of gathering all the people in one place. “WELL, I DON'T SEE THEM HERE...”

“They should be in the second floor! I'll meet you there!” Mettaton sounded so worried and then he immediately hung up. Papyrus thought it was a good idea to go down the second floor to look around and meet up with Mettaton.

As he was going down, his phone rang again.

“They're not here either!” cried Mettaton from the other line.

“W-WHA? I'M STILL GOING DOWN THE STAIRS! WHAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT?” said Papyrus as he was looking at the overview of the second floor while going down the stairs.

“I'm a robot, darling... I can detect humans and monsters from a 50-meter radius. I've been going around and there was no sign of them!” said Mettaton. “I can see you from here! I'm by the electric guitars.”

Papyrus ran down the stairs and apologised to the people he accidentally pushed away as he proceeded to rush down to meet up with his employer.

“METTATON?” said Papyrus as he went to the electric guitar section. He saw Mettaton just looking up at the guitars.

“...” Mettaton sighed and then looked at Papyrus. “They're not here. I called my director and told him to alert everyone and make posters of Blooky. They should be done in an hour so we can disperse all the posters.”

“AH... I SEE. WELL, UNTIL THEN... DO YOU WANT TO EAT SOMETHING? I DON'T THINK YOU'VE EATEN AT ALL TODAY, RIGHT?” said Papyrus. “I HAVE SOME GLAMBURGERS™ BACK IN THE CAR!”

The idol just strutted past him and then stopped for a while. He looked at Papyrus, impatiently waiting for him to come along. The newly-employed driver caught on and then he walked alongside him as they went back to the car to eat some Glamburgers™.

Papyrus began eating and he was smiling as he did so. “I ALWAYS LOVED THE TASTE OF SEQUINS AND GLUE!”

Mettaton cracked a little smile at his comment and looked away.

“HEEEY, HEY, ARE YOU SMILING?” Papyrus grinned and tried to take a peek.

“So what if I am? I have to, darling. I'm a star.” said Mettaton.

“AND LIKE THEY SAY, THE SHOW MUST GO ON!” said Papyrus as he offered him some ketchup.

Mettaton smiled and took the ketchup. He looked at his phone and then sighed. “You know, Blooky and I are really close... they were the glue to my sequins, the music to my play. I remember that one time we would play with snails, can you believe it?”

“...” Papyrus looked a little estranged. He remembered his comment about snails and brothers before... they weren't exactly flattering. But he decided to roll along. “THAT'S GREAT! I BET HE'S THE SANS TO MY PAPYRUS, RIGHT?”

“Come to think of it, yes!” said Mettaton. “That reminds me, we haven't really talked much in the past, have we? I have only heard stories of you from Frisk. You have to thank them, it's because of them that I hired you.”

“FRISK??” said Papyrus as he looked like he was about to tear up. “WOW... THEY REALLY RECOMMENDED ME TO YOU?”

Mettaton nodded at this with a slight smile. “Yes. When they told me about your enthusiasm, we decided to sign you up for a job interview. And here you are.”

Papyrus looked like he was blushing out of extreme joy at the moment, his eyes, through some magic, sparkling in delight. He was about to say something when Mettaton picked up his phone and talked to someone on the line.

“That's great, darling. We'll be right there. Start dispersing the posters and flyers.” said Mettaton. “Well, darling... we must go. We'll grab a few posters and scatter them around while we go to places.”

“PLACES LIKE WHAT?” asked Papyrus as he started up the car.

“Places.” said Mettaton as he put on his sunglasses.

***

The streets they drove around were eventually filled with people putting up posters of Napstablook with contact numbers; there were also flyers given to monsters and humans. Every street and corner seemed to be full of Napstablook faces.

As for those who purchased from MTT-brand food chains scattered around the city, some wrappers had been changed to have Napstablook's face with contact numbers. Some MTT-brand milk cartons and cups had been changed as well, to help find Mettaton's lost cousin.

Mettaton stood on the passenger seat and aimed his shirt cannon stuffed with posters at the walls they were passing through. Papyrus drove carefully but called out on him to be careful, which he just shrugged off and paid no mind to.

“Papyrus darling, turn around that corner!” said Mettaton.

They turned round a corner by an MTT-brand food chain and he (intentionally, or unintentionally) shot a poster at someone's face who seemed to be loitering around outside of the food chain. There seemed to be no customers.

“Oh, I remember that guy.” Mettaton began talking to Papyrus while he was still aiming at other walls. “He was an employee of mine. He snuck some Glamburgers™ from the store to... I don't really care where, and I got him almost fired for it. But he learned his lesson as well as his new nickname so... that was enough of a punishment, I guess.”

“WOW... WAIT, WAS HE THAT GUY WHO PUT ALL THOSE BURGERS IN HIS PANTS?” said Papyrus.

“Where did you hear that?” asked Mettaton as he looked back at him while still standing on the passenger seat.

“IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST STORIES I'VE HEARD WHEN I WAS NEWLY-EMPLOYED!” said Papyrus with a smile.

“...” Mettaton began to giggle a little. “Yes, that's him. In any case... have you seen Blooky yet?”

“NO SIGN OF THEM YET, SIR!” said Papyrus as he drove around and looked for a floating ghost.

“It's time to use my ultimate weapon.” said Mettaton as he grabbed his phone and started to call someone on it.

***

A few days later...

“I can't believe even the Navy wasn't able to find them...”

Mettaton was lying on his bed face down while crying on his pillows.

His room was glamorous as he was; the room was full of posters of his shows and pink furniture with bright lights adorned it. His bed looked comfortable; big enough for two or three people to huddle together on if Mettaton didn't want it for himself. His pink pillows were fluffy and soft, good enough to cry on in times of distress.

Papyrus grabbed a chair and sat beside Mettaton's bed as he watched over him.

Mettaton sat up to face Papyrus and still hugged his pillow while bawling. “Blooky's still not home... it's already... it's already... what time is it?”

Papyrus looked at his wrist watch. “UH... 11PM.”

“THAT'S AN HOUR TO MIDNIGHT! Blooky, where could you be?! Blooky...” cried Mettaton on his pillows. “They could be anywhere right now... they could be crying out my name... they could be hungry, w-who'd be there to feed them??”

Papyrus was forced to watch his employer cry pathetically on the pillows.

“It's been days... I was confident the Navy and the Marines were going to find them... the paper bags to Blooky's liking were also a surefire way to find them... and all those plastic cups and wrappers...” the idol continued to cry and for once, did not care if they looked like a mess.

“METTATON... IT'S NOT THE END! WE CAN STILL FIND THEM!” said Papyrus. He heard a sound and then he looked wherever it may have come from.

“You always say that... but has it really brought us anywhere?! The NAVY couldn't find Blooky! Blooky could be starving or... or kidnapped... or they could be crying themselves to sleep...” Mettaton went on.

“UH...” Papyrus tapped Mettaton's shoulder, but he did not seem to mind.

“Blooky could be in the belly of a whale or... or... well... they can always go through it... but still! They could be lost...”

“METTATON?” Papyrus tapped his shoulder once more.

“Or they could be crying themselves to sleep or all of the above...”

“METTATON...”

“It's all my fault! I shouldn't have let them on their own! I shouldn't have left them alone!”

“METTATON? UM...”

Mettaton snapped at Papyrus and frowned at him. “ _ **WHAT?!**_ ”

Papyrus gestured that he didn't want a fight and then just looked at the door. Mettaton, with his smeared mascara and teary face, looked at the door of his bedroom. His eyes widened when he stared long enough; he stared at the door as he gasped.

***

The next day's headline was full of news about a shrill soundwave that had scattered throughout an area in a city; a soundwave so loud that it had been heard for miles around.


	3. Cousins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, this chapter was so fun to write! I listened to Maya Fey's theme (aka the Gyakuten Sisters' theme) for most of this chapter to get the feel right. Seriously, writing about Blooky and Pinky is just so fun!

###  **Chapter 3: Cousins**

“I'M SO GRATEFUL SKELETONS DON'T HAVE EARS! I WONDER HOW EVERYONE'S HOLDING UP AFTER THAT SOUND WAVE?” said Papyrus. "METTATON SURE HAS IRON LUNGS..."

“Huh...? Papyrus darling, I had the weirdest dream...” Mettaton woke up. He looked around; he was still in his own room as he laid down on his bed. Papyrus was still sitting on the chair just beside the bed. “I had this weird dream that Blooky was here... and... and they... and I screamed and...”

“HUH? BLOOKY? OOOOOH WAS THAT HIS NAME?” said Papyrus as he looked around. “HEY, YOU CAN COME IN NOW!”

“His...?” Mettaton asked a little weakly.

“...”

In came a young-looking individual. He looked like he wore a battle-ready armor and thigh high boots, both of which were aqua. He had white hair and white eyes, the irises lined with a black rim akin to contact lenses. He had no skin; for he was a robot... just like Mettaton.

“Hi...” said the young individual.

“B-B-B-BL-BLOO... KY-” Mettaton's eyes rolled to the back of his head and then he fainted on his bed.

“OH NO, NOT AGAIN! METTATON! SPEAK TO ME!” said Papyrus as he grabbed him by the shoulders and then shook him to try getting him conscious, but to no avail. “OH NO! WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”

“We need to revive him...” said the young robot as he sat on the side of the bed, looking down at Mettaton.

“HE NEEDS MOUTH TO MOUTH RESUSCITATION!!” said Papyrus as he made sure Mettaton was lying down properly, flat on his back. He took a deep breath and then-

Mettaton's fist came straight to Papyrus' face and then he sat upright. “Try that again if I don't give you the Burgerpants treatment.”

The idol turned his head to the other individual beside him, and this time he didn't fall unconscious. It seems as if he was able to process what was happening this time.

“Blooky...?” said the idol. He opened his arms and then he hugged the individual tightly; he could not help but cry as he did so. “Where were you...? I was so worried...”

Napstablook slowly raised his arms as well and then hugged Mettaton back. He slightly nuzzled against him. “Pinky, I... I'm sorry... I just came back from... from this...”

Napstablook parted and then he gestured to himself, from a ghost to a robot just like his cousin. He looked a little awkward in it, that he didn't look like he was used to walking at all. Mettaton wasn't able to notice his awkwardness at first because he was overjoyed seeing his cousin safe and sound.

“How did you... wait, Alphys? She did this for you? I recognise that style anywhere! We look exactly alike!” Mettaton grabbed Napstablook and then they both looked into his dresser's mirror. “See?? Oh, Blooky! You look so... so GORGEOUS!”

“Heh...” Blooky managed to let out a small smile.

“Why did you suddenly think of becoming a robot like me?? Oh, I know the answer! You want to be fabulous like me, right?” said Mettaton as he raised a brow with a smirk.

“Actually, I...”

“Well, of course we can both be fabulous on stage, darling!” said the pop idol. “Why don't you go get some shut eye? I'm sure you're still quite tired... Papyrus darling, please escort him to his room!”

“YES, SIR!” said Papyrus as he took Napstablook in his arms and went out of the room.

***

The next day...

“Pinky? I'm... uh... awake now...”

Napstablook peeked inside his cousin's room in the morning and he was surprised with what he saw. In an instant, something was in front of him that surprised him enough to make him squeak. It was none other than his cousin who held a blue sweater and practically shoved it in his face.

“BLOOKY!” Mettaton smiled sweetly and then pulled him into the room. He closed the door and then showed him the blue sweater as his eyes glimmered. “Isn't it just DARLING, darling??”

“I... uh... sure...” said Napstablook as he looked at it, not knowing how to react.

“Try it on!” said his cousin as he shoved it in his arms. His eyes glimmered in delight as he waited for Napstablook to wear it.

“...” the shorter robot stared at it for a while and then looked at his cousin, and then stared back at it. He decided to wear it. “How do I look...?”

Mettaton put both of his hands on his own mouth and his cheeks started to glow a pinkish red again. His eyes were smiling and not long after, he could not hide his squealing anymore. “Oh, DARLING you look DARLING!! YOU'RE SO CUUUUUTE!!”

He could not help but hug Napstablook tightly and nuzzled against him. Napstablook could not help but feel surprised, but he did not complain.

“Thanks. Heh...” said the shy robot as he smiled a little in the mirror.

“Shyren will be so happy to have you on stage like this! Just look at you! Everyone will LOVE you!” said Mettaton as he pinched the other robot's cheek.

His face was covered with silicone just like the idol's was; it enabled them to be more expressive than if they had a metallic face. In fact, some of their body parts were either made of silicone, metal, or a combination of both for both aesthetic and practical uses. Given that they were in their EX modes, they needed some sort of shock absorbers like silicon, and metal armour for protection against external factors that could possibly wear them down.

“Uh... actually, Shyren helped me out...” said Napstablook. “I couldn't walk so she helped me around... I... oh...”

He began to lose balance and fell on his side right on the ground. “Ouch... why was I programmed to feel pain...”

“It's fine, darling. I feel pain too.” said Mettaton. “It's a little hard to get used to it, but with legs like these we can do anything! Alphys is SO good with making legs! I recommended Papyrus to go to her if he wants to have legs like mine~”

“Oh... that's great...” said Napstablook, still on the ground.

“You have gorgeous legs!” said Mettaton, and then he began to walk around. “Hmmm... now what should we be called? The Blooks! No, that sounds too weird. Oh, I got it! How's about... 'THE LEG COUSINS'??”

“Um...” the shy ghost raised his hand and signaled for help to get up.

“Darling, we need to get those legs functional.” said Mettaton as he helped him up. “Now all you have to do is watch me and try to get it right, okay? PAPYRUS! SHYREN!”

Papyrus came in the glamourous pink room with Shyren in a hurry as soon as Mettaton called for them.

“I'm going to teach Blooky how to walk. You have to watch him and catch him if he falls, okay?” said Mettaton. “And Shyren darling, thanks for helping Blooky get over here! We're all having some Glamburgers™! Unless you want steaks in the shape of my face™, that's also fine.”

Mettaton began strutting around the room as if he was on stage and walking in a fashion show. His hips swayed along with his movement; obviously very used to walking like a diva.

For once, his shy ghost cousin looked like he was even a little bit determined and tried to walk like him. He looked extremely awkward as he tried to sway his hips while walking and at the same time, tried to keep his balance.

“W-Whoa... whoa!” Napstablook fell on the ground face down in no time. Papyrus and Shyren ran over to his aid and tried helping him up. “Pinky, I'm horrible at this...”

“Nonsense, you can do it! Come on, just another round!” said his confident cousin and started walking more slowly so that he can catch up.

Napstablook got up and tried his best to move around a little more, still trying to sway his hips around.

“Blooky, you don't need to sway your hips! Well, not yet. We need to tackle this one little baby step at a time!” said Mettaton as he faced him. “Alright, I'll be here. Try walking over to me!”

“I...” Napstablook took a deep breath and then started walking slowly and awkwardly to Mettaton. He almost lost balance, but he tried his best to keep moving forward. Eventually, he was right in front of Mettaton and to his surprise, he lost balance again... but Mettaton caught his hands and kept him on his feet.

“I told you that you can do it, Blooky!” Mettaton smiled at him and then hugged him tightly. “We'll keep practicing til we get the hang of it! Shyren, change of plans. We're going to have some taping sessions later and we're putting off the live performances til next week. We need to have some time with Blooky til he gets used to his new body.”

“... Pinky, you don't have to...” said Napstablook, feeling a little bad about it.

“Nonsense, darling. Fans can wait. Family can't.” Mettaton winked at him. “Now let's have another round!”

***

The days passed by...

During the afternoons, Mettaton would have his performances recorded so that his fans can still have the satisfaction of watching his noontime show, although not live. During mornings and evenings, he would be with Napstablook as he helped him get used to his new body.

It looked like Napstablook was not too hard to train as he was able to walk normally after a day or two of practicing.

“Looks like you're getting the hang of it!” said Mettaton before taking a bite on his Glamburger™.

“Yes... heh...” said Napstablook as he moved his fingers around and tried to pick up a Glamburger™ properly. He pouted a little as he couldn't quite handle it with stiff hands. “...”

“Aww, your hands are still a little stiff! We'll play some piano with Shyren later so you'll get used to it. How's that?” said Mettaton as he picked up the sandwich for his cousin and fed him by holding it close enough to Napstablook's face.

The shy ghost nibbled on the sandwich and his face lighted up a little. “... That sounds... lovely...”

Mettaton giggled at this. “And maybe tomorrow, Papyrus can drive us around town! OOH! We're going to be the talk of the town! Hmm... but we need a screen name for you, though. If I'm Mettaton, then you should be... hmmm!”

His cousin eyed him from head to toe and it felt a little awkward for him to be stared at. He was a little used to his cousin's antics that he didn't react or anything, though.

“Umm... what about Napstabot?” he suggested.

“That sounds pretty good! But it's too close to your real name, let's try to think of a better alternative.” said Mettaton as he paced around and munched on his Glamburger™ while thinking. “I GOT IT!”

“...?” Napstablook just looked up at him.

“What about... Blookyton?” said Mettaton as he giggled. “... No. Hmmm...”

“OH. MY. GOSH. You can be DJ WAVE!” said Mettaton.

“Dj... Wave...?” Napstablook tilted his head a little. “Uhh... Pinky, I don't know...”

“Relax, you're only DJ Wave in front of the camera. But you'll still be our little Blooky behind the scenes!” said Mettaton as he patted his head. “Sound good to you?”

“Well... sure...” Napstablook smiled up at him. “If it makes you happy...”

“Oh! This week, we have to get back to Alphys so she can check up on your...” Mettaton began lifting up Napstablook's lock of hair on his other eye; to which the other quickly reacted and swatted his hand away. “B-Blooky...??”

“I... I'm sorry...” said the shy robot as he bowed his head down. “I-I... Doctor told me that it's still sensitive... I can't let anyone else touch my eye...”

“... I understand.” said Mettaton as he patted his head and smiled warmly at him. “Well, if you're going to be a star, we have to practice for it!”

***

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!”

Mettaton was on stage once more for a tape recording session with a live crowd. The recorded footage will be played during weekdays for his noontime show.

“We have a special guest with us tonight. Have you ever wondered who is in charge of my LOVELY stage music? Well, our composer/sound mixer is as good-looking as his music is sweet. Please put your hands together for... DJ WAVE!!” Mettaton clapped his hands and strutted over to pull Napstablook from the front seats.

“...” Napstablook began to feel nervous and he hid behind Mettaton, his eyes closed tightly.

“Haha!” Mettaton grabbed him from behind and held his hand. He whispered surreptitiously so that the crowd won't notice. “Don't worry, Blooky... the crowd loves you. I'll take care of you here. All you have to do is wave your hand, I'll do all the talking... alright? AND THE CROWD LOVES THE DJ! CAN I GET A 'HECK YEAH'??”

Mettaton raised his mic and the crowd cheered. He smiled at his shy cousin. Napstablook looked up at him and smiled a little nervously with his cheeks glowing light blue. He let Napstablook take his seat once more as he decided to carry the show on his own.

After the show...

“Pinky, you were great up there... as usual... heh...” Napstablook came to him in the backstage.

“Really, Blooky? Thank you!” said Mettaton. Somehow, he really always had a soft spot for family. This made it sound like he doesn't sound as conceited and self-absorbed as he usually did. “You did GREAT out there, Blooky! All the cameras and the people were there but you stood on your own two feet! I'm SO proud of you!”

“Heh... it was nothing...” the shy ghost cracked a little smile and looked away. “Um... maybe someday I can... um... I can go out with my Dapper Blook...?”

“OH MY GOSH THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL, LIKE, BLOOKY.” said Mettaton as he put his hands on Napstablook's shoulders. “YOU'D BE SO CUTE AND EVERYONE WOULD LOVE YOU. YES, PLEASE DO IT. PLEASE. I. AM. BEGGING YOU!”

Napstablook gave him a shy smile. Papyrus came in with a platter of spaghetti and put it on the star's table.

“YOUR SPAGHETTI HAS ARRIVED, YOUR STARDOM!” Papyrus bowed down to him with a smile.

Mettaton was so excited that his cousin had volunteered to perform someday, that he grabbed a forkful of spaghetti and stuffed it in his own mouth. He smiled as he ate the spaghetti. “PAPYRUS DARLING, I COULD JUST RETCH RIGHT NOW BUT KNOWING MY COUSIN WILL PERFORM HIS DAPPER BLOOK MAKES EVEN YOUR SPAGHETTI TASTE WONDERFUL!”

“HUH?” Papyrus smiled and was so clueless, even when Mettaton had somehow insulted his cooking. All he knew was that Napstablook was going to perform. “OH MY GOSH! REALLY? THAT'S GREAT! HEY, BLOOKY-”

“Only I call him Blooky, darling.” Mettaton cut him off.

“UM... DJ WAVE, WE'D LOVE TO SEE YOUR DAPPER BLOOK!” said Papyrus.

“Oh um... 'Napstablook' is fine, Papyrus...” said Napstablook shyly as he avoided eye contact.

“Blooky, Papyrus is one of the people here you can trust with your life. Besides Shyren that is.” Mettaton winked at Papyrus. “He's part of the Royal Guards, you know, but he's also my personal assistant.”

Papyrus grinned like an idiot while a blush formed across his bony cheeks. “WOW, METTATON TRUSTS ME THAT MUCH?! I WON'T LET YOU DOWN, METTATON! I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOUR COUSIN! I'LL TAKE THE BULLET FOR HIM IF I HAVE TO!”

“Oh, you don't need to...” said the shy ghost as he shook his head. “Doctor made my body bullet-proof and heat-resistant...”

“WELL, IF YOU NEED ANYTHING, HERE'S MY PHONE NUMBER!” said Papyrus with a smile as he showed him his phone number. “I'LL BE AVAILABLE 24/7! OH MY GOSH, SANS HAS TO SEE THIS! HE'S GOING TO BE SO PROUD OF ME! HAH! HE THINKS HE'S THE ONLY ONE WITH TWO JOBS... I'M A ROYAL GUARD AND A BODYGUARD!”

Mettaton giggled at this. “Yes, thank you, darling. I know you will be a very good bodyguard to Blooky and I. But I think you'd be better as a cook, instead.”

“OH! YOU ALSO LIKE MY COOKING?!” Papyrus acted like the total fanboy he was. “I KNOW I'M ALREADY WORKING FOR YOU BUT I STILL FEEL SO... SO HAPPY! I FEEL LIKE FANBOYING EVERYTIME YOU COMPLEMENT ME!”

“You're a darling.” Mettaton giggled and pinched his bony cheek. “Now run along and make some more spaghetti for Burgerpants. He needs to recover from his constipation.”

“RIGHT AWAY, SIR!” Papyrus saluted as he ran out of the room.

“He seems like a nice guy...” said Napstablook. “He's one of Frisk's close friends, right...? Heh... Frisk... they're a really nice person...”

“I know, darling. I know. That's why he's still alive.” said Mettaton as he powdered his own nose. “Blooky, I'm so happy that we were in front of the TV screen earlier... what do you say we eat some Glamburgers™ and relive our family tradition?”

“...” the shy ghost smiled a little and nodded. He had started to get used to grabbing things with his hands without them slipping away and then he ate a Glamburger™ with his cousin.

After they finished their Glamburgers™, they locked the door then lied down on the floor and felt like garbage. Needless to say, they actually had fun doing it; especially with Mettaton's heart-shaped LED disco lamp to help brighten the mood.


	4. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a little painful to write... honestly. Had to listen and see a couple of stuff to get the feels. Hope you guys like it! ♥

###  **Chapter 4: Dreams**

  
  


“Wow, Pinky... I have no idea your inbox is always this full!”

Napstablook and Mettaton were sitting on the latter's bed and they held hands; with their eyes that looked quite strange. Their eyes looked blank while they seemed to be processing data; it looks like by holding hands, they were able to communicate with each other within themselves only and could act like shared networks. This way, it was almost as if they can read each other's files and minds. 

Mettaton giggled. “What about you, Blooky? You've made your premiere in that form the other day. Do you have any fanmails? … No? Huh...” 

“It's fine...” said Napstablook. He gasped weakly as if he saw something, but he was still connected with Mettaton. “... W-W-What, Pinky! D-Did you always have fans like these??” 

“What are you looki- oh. Eheh... yes. Why don't you read it out loud so I'd know we're looking at the same email?” said Mettaton with a slight smirk. 

“What... l-leg... leg so hot, hot hot leg, leg so hot you fry an egg??” Napstablook's LED lights on his cheeks glowed light blue as he read it. “Pinky, you never told me your fans were like this!” 

“Well, I AM the idol everyone craves, aren't I~?” Mettaton giggled. “Oh! It's almost showtime. This time, it's not my usual noontime show.” 

“Huh?” the shy robot's eyes resumed to normal as Mettaton disconnected their networks and released his hands. “What do you mean...?” 

“METTATON! YOUR SHOW STARTS IN THIRTY MINUTES!” Papyrus called out as he went in his room. He smiled at the cousins. “OH, THAT'S RIGHT! YOUR COUSIN'S GONNA BE IN IT, RIGHT?” 

“... W-Wha...?? Awkward... I didn't sign up for this...” said Napstablook as he looked a little unsettled. He backed away, but his idol cousin grabbed his wrist and smirked. 

“Blooky darling, I had a hunch your inbox was devoid of fanmails. Therefore... we're going to get it filled by the end of this week!” said Mettaton as he grinned at him. 

“P-Pinky, I don't think I should...” said Napstablook, but was interrupted by Papyrus powdering his face. 

“You said you were planning to show your Dapper Blook right, Blooky?” said Mettaton as he began to fix himself in front of the mirror. “We're both going to perform. Don't worry, I've got your back.” 

*** 

“Ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready to have a real performance?” Mettaton came out of the curtains with his fabulous strut in his usual high-heeled boots. The crowd cheered for him as he raised the mic in the air. “I said, ARE YOU READY TO HAVE A REAL PERFORMANCE??” 

The crowd cheered once more, and as a response, he smiled at them. He began his opening remark by talking about a very special guest who he had held dear to his heart. It seemed to be a live performance for his hotel in the entertainment room where live bands performed. Only this time, the owner of the hotel is actually performing live for them! 

“Before I start this performance, I would like to tell you that we have a very special guest who's VERY special to my dear heart. He has been here for me through thick and thin, and he had even supported me in my career.” 

Behind the backstage, Napstablook's legs shook intensely as he held onto his mic tightly. Papyrus was just behind him and he massaged the poor nervous robot's shoulder pads. 

“YOU'LL DO GREAT, DJ WAVE! I HAVE TOTAL CONFIDENCE IN YOU!” said Papyrus as he smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. 

“I wish I had your confidence in me...” said Napstablook nervously, as his voice had malfunctioned to a quivered, glitchy tone. 

Mettaton was unaware of what had been happening in the backstage since he was too busy entertaining the audience. “He's the sweetest sweetheart you will ever meet in your life. He's very talented. Do you ever remember those musical compositions I have used in my show? All of those are his works!” 

“P-Papyrus.. I... don't think I can do this... c-can you do this instead?” said Napstablook quietly. 

“WHOA, I DIDN'T KNOW ROBOTS COULD SWEAT!” Papyrus tried to humour him. “DOES METTATON SWEAT TOO?” 

Napstablook actually looked a little irritated, for once. “... Why don't you find out for yourself?” 

“... And now, without further ado!” they heard Metatton's voice. 

“THAT'S YOUR CUE!” said Papyrus. 

“I am woe...” said the poor nervous ghost. 

“Put your hands together for DJ Wave! The greatest DJ that has ever graced your eyes!” said Mettaton as he signaled his cousin to come into the stage. His cousin was reluctant, but Papyrus pushed him forward. He awkwardly ran to Mettaton's side and wore a frozen, nervous smile. 

Mettaton noticed this and then he held his hands to be able to communicate with him without the audience knowing. “It's okay, Blooky. I have your back covered, remember? Just follow my lead and pretend this is one of our practices.” 

He led his shy cousin to the center of the stage and the crowd cheered for them! They haven't even done anything yet but the people seemed to love them just standing there. Mettaton smiled and then glanced at Napstablook to see his reaction... 

… It hasn't changed. Now it's potentially debatable if ghosts can die of fright. 

Mettaton took a deep breath and then held his cousin's hand and began to sing... 

He seemed to be very used to the stage. He began to dance with his cousin in the process to help him try to forget about things... but Napstablook doesn't seem like his confidence boosted. 

He just looked like he tried to fight off his fear and started to sing with a shaky voice. He wasn't such a bad singer, but he looked like he was better with instruments and mixing music than singing per se. Mettaton just smiled at him and tried his best to boost his cousin's confidence on stage. It's as if all he did on stage was to reassure him that he would do great. 

“And now... the Dapper Blook!” said Mettaton as he gave the floor to his cousin, but he still stayed close. It was just enough to give Napstablook the spotlight. 

Napstablook cried of fear, but it wasn't too noticeable to the audience because he HAD to cry for his Dapper Blook. He cried himself a hat and a cane and then looked at Mettaton, who just smiled at him. 

“CAN I GET A _'HECK YEAH'_??” Mettaton looked so proud of his cousin that he walked over and put an arm around him. 

The audience went wild! They seemed to love Napstablook already, despite his fear of the audience. 

“See, Blooky? They love you. I knew you'd do GREAT on the stage.” said Mettaton as he smiled at him. “Let's finish our Dapper Blook act... shall we?” 

They continued performing... 

Mettaton looked like he guided his cousin all throughout, even though Napstablook seemed to know some steps... he was just too afraid to execute them in front of a live crowd. 

“A-A-And now... D-Dapper Blook a-a-a la... Mettaton...!!” Blooky tried mustering his courage and then cried his cousin a hat and a cane. 

Mettaton looked a little surprised, but he obliged. He took the hat and cane and began to dance with his cousin. He looked so happy, as if he had performed for the first time. As if... as if all the other performances didn't matter. 

He looked so happy just being with his cousin. 

And that alone was enough for Napstablook to crack even just a small smile while they performed. He was still still panic-stricken, but he looked happy that Mettaton was happy. 

*** 

“BLOOKY, YOU WERE AMAZING!!” Mettaton squealed as he hugged Napstablook and twirled in place. “I knew you could do it! That was just like the old times, eh?” 

“Y-Yeah... except there weren't people in imaginary underwear...” said Napstablook, seemingly unfazed from how his cousin is hugging him so tightly. He was finally recovering from his stage fright. 

“YOU TWO WERE AMAZING!” said Papyrus. “I CAN'T BELIEVE METTATON'S SHOW COULD GET ANY BETTER... NOW THERE WERE THE TWO OF YOU AND... WOW! MY MIND IS BLOWN! I THOUGHT I WAS SEEING TWO METTATONS!! B-BUT OF COURSE... THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE METTATON... AND ONE NAPSTABLOOK!” 

Mettaton giggled at this. “We're checking our fanmail now. Papyrus... can you please cook some spaghetti, darling?” 

“RIGHT AWAY, SIR!” Papyrus looked very happy and then he dashed off. 

“What... what was the spaghetti for?” Napstablook looked confused and then they both knelt on the floor, facing each other. 

“For getting rid of Papyrus.” said Mettaton with a giggle. “He didn't plan on leaving us alone. Don't worry, his spaghetti is actually... edible now. Still can rust a cast iron stomach, though...” 

They held hands and then they began to access their network again; their eyes blank with data streaming all over them. 

“Hey, Blooky!” said Mettaton with a smile. “We BOTH have fanmail! Your inbox looks like it's starting to get a lot more!” 

“O-Oh gee......” said Napstablook with a blush as he started to browse through his inbox. 

“Here! Let me read you one. Dear DJ Wave, I loved your performance! xoxo, Mettaton. Oh... that was mine. Hehe, let's read another one! This one's from the ambassador!” Mettaton cleared his throat. Not that robots needed to, but it's how the humans did it and therefore it was cool. “DJ Wave, you were amazing. Love, Frisk.” 

“Wow...... o-oh gee..... Frisk watched that......?” said Napstablook with a slight blush. “I-I was embarrassing.......” 

“Dear DJ Wave, I want to hug you!! You're so cute!!” said Mettaton and then giggled. “Oh look, there's lots more here!” 

“Look, darling!” said Mettaton. “Dear DJ JAY JAY WAVE, You were great! Look Blooky, an attachment! Okay... virus-free, yadda yadda... oh. Where is it? Huh, it must have gotten deleted or it must have been corrupted? Anyway...” 

“You also have so many fanmails...” said Napstablook as he seemed to be overwhelmed by it. “Don't you get overwhelmed by the thousands of fanmails you get?” 

“Some of them come from the same person, some of them are generic, but all of them are full of love! Even the haters. They so passionately hate me that they give me letters! Though... I'll have to admit, some of them are lewd. Well, too lewd even for my standards.” said Mettaton as he rambled on. 

“....... Has anyone ever hurt you, Pinky...?” said Napstablook. He actually sounded quite protective. 

“Oh? N-No, nothing that I can't handle, Blooky! Don't worry.” said Mettaton, after he took notice of his reaction. “You need not worry about anything, darling. I'm used to this.” 

“Just making sure.....” said Napstablook. “Hey, Pinky uh........ d-do you want to practice that dance we always did back then......?” 

“... I'd love to.” said Mettaton as he smiled at him, and then Napstablook disconnected their server. 

The two of them began practicing; Napstablook was actually quite a graceful dancer. His refined, reserved movements complemented his cousin's more daring movements and they complemented each other's dance styles. 

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...” Napstablook began to sing with a smile. 

“You make me happy... when skies are grey.” Mettaton smiled as they held hands and twirled around the room. 

“You never know dear, how much I love you... please don't take my sunshine away...” they both sang to each other. They then smiled warmly at each other and began to giggle to themselves while twirling around the room. 

They twirled until they dropped to the floor; they were beside each other and flat on their backs, giggling to themselves. Mettaton clapped his hands and then the lights went off, then he seemed to connect to a device. It was like a bluetooth function; he was able to get something rise from beneath the floor. 

Napstablook wondered what it was and just stared at it where it was. Both robots could see perfectly well in the night; Alphys had given them night vision. It looked like a small black orb. 

Mettaton got it to light up, and then what they saw on the ceiling made them stare in awe. It was a planetarium; a myriad of stars projected in the room as if it was the real deal, as if they looked in up in the real skies. 

“Someday... I'll take a vacation leave so we can go out and watch the real stars, Blooky. I need to reunite with my family.” Mettaton giggled and his cousin giggled as well. 

“They're beautiful.......” said Napstablook as he was left staring. “Hey..... that looks like a dog!” 

“That's Canis Majoris, Blooky. It's the Greater Dog!” said Mettaton as he looked around for more stars and constellations. 

“You're making that up........ how do you know any of that...?” said his cousin as he turned his head to him. “I know.... you're browsing right now as we speak, aren't you...?” 

“No.” said Mettaton with a smile. “Blooky, I've always been fascinated with humans. Them and their... stars. Trust me, when we go look up the stars for real someday, you'll see how beautiful they are. They're even more beautiful to look at when you're away from the city. I should know. Sans and Papyrus once invited me with Frisk.” 

“Sans and Papyrus... that taller skeleton sure seems close to you...” his cousin sounded a little jealous. 

“Don't worry, he's nice.” said Mettaton as he laughed it off. “He's actually a darling.” 

Napstablook looked up again and then found a particular star. “That was huge. What was that...” 

“That, my darling, is called 'the sun'.” said Mettaton. “The sun is also a star. You see, stars are big masses of energy made up of different elements...” 

Mettaton continued to give him a lecture about stars and galaxies, all to which his cousin seemed interested in. The stars and galaxies panned through the whole room slowly, as they were projected by a lamp or a disco ball. 

“I love laying down on the ground and feeling like garbage...” replied Napstablook as he just stared up at the ceiling. 

“Me too.” said Mettaton with a giggle. “Well, Blooky... we have another small performance tomorrow. I know you'll do just great. The trick is not to look them in the eye if you're not ready. I had stage fright too... but because I loved performing, I got used to it quick!” 

“Well... okay...” said Napstablook, as he seemed mesmerized by the stars. “Let's... get ready for that performance tomorrow...” 

Both robot cousins stared up at the ceiling and then they slowly drifted off to sleep mode. 

While they were asleep, Papyrus snuck in with a plate of spaghetti and put it on the ground between them. He slowly walked outside and watched them sleep for a while, and then closed the door quietly. 

*** 

The next day, the two cousins readied themselves for another performance. Mettaton looked just as confident as usual, but Napstablook looked like the complete opposite. He was shaking in his boots again, but he tried to control himself more. 

Mettaton gave the usual intro and gathered some audience applause. 

“From now on, my darlings... from now on, my cousin DJ Wave will be here to perform with me LIVE!” said Mettaton. “He's a little shy, but he's a STAR! You know that stars need applause to shine brighter, right? AM I RIGHT, PEOPLE?!” 

The audience clapped and cheered him on. Some of them began calling out for his cousin. 

“DJ WAVE! DJ WAVE!” the crowd cheered and held posters that had Napstablook's screen name and face on it. 

“THE AUDIENCE IS WILD!! PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR... DJ WAVE!” said Mettaton as he pointed at the side stage for the spotlight to introduce his cousin to the audience. 

Napstablook actually walked out of the curtains and then waved to the crowd, but he still looked very nervous. He was much colder (literally) than he should have been, even Mettaton was surprised. But the show had to go on! 

They began performing the dance they practiced the night before, but the experienced idol noticed his shy cousin missed a few steps. The more that Napstablook looked like he tried to do his best, the more he screwed up... so after a few steps, Mettaton decided to stop. 

He knew that his cousin was still not used to the stage and so he tried to disguise his comforting in a form of song to him. And so he sang...

> “ Oh Blooky,
> 
> Don't ever fear
> 
> Mettaton
> 
> Is always here
> 
>   
> 
> 
> Cousins must
> 
> Stay by your side
> 
> Even if 

             _Even if...”_  


 

Mettaton looked at him sadly and then looked away a little, as if he remembered something. Something... sad. Something... painful. Something... that he may have done in the past. He looked like he was about to cry. He forgot he was still holding his cousin's hand so his cousin felt this... and knew what was up.

  


“Even if... you... think we died...?” said Napstablook a little undecidedly, seeing he wasn't too good with it. He smiled at Mettaton, though he still looked nervous. He continued...

  


> “Nobody
> 
> Will take your place
> 
> They all suck
> 
> Because they aren't you.
> 
>   
> 
> 
> Really sad
> 
> I cry cry cry
> 
> Cry cry cry 
> 
> But I'm just glad you're back...”  
> 

  


Mettaton bit his lip and then hugged Napstablook tightly on stage; he set the mic aside for a while so that the audience will not hear him sob. His cousin hugged him tightly and patted his back, also about to cry.

  


“I'm sorry, Blooky...” Mettaton sobbed on him.  


  


“Pinky.......” Napstablook sobbed a little, but he was able to speak better because he was used to crying.

  


Mettaton couldn't speak for a while and he cried for what seemed to be minutes before he let go of his cousin and then smiled at the audience. He looked at all of them as he wiped his tears away.

“Well, folks. I don't think I can cry a hat and a cane like my cousin can. Only he can do that. Isn't he great?” he asked them with a lively voice, smiling through the tears. "Isn't he a great performer?"  
  


  


Napstablook basked in the applause and he smiled at the audience, seeing how much the crowd loved them. He was still scared, but he felt more determined to stay on stage with his cousin.

  


“We are available for taking photos after the show! Don't forget to show your support for DJ Wave by sending him love and fanmail!” said Mettaton with a smile.  


  


Both of the cousins performed once again for their audience. They tried performing the duo Dapper Blook again, with the shy robot crying out their hats and canes. They danced in front of the supportive audience that kept cheering for their affection towards the robotic duo.


	5. The Spooks

###  **Chapter 5: The Spooks**

  


 

“Blooky, wake up!”

“Nnngh... what?”

Napstablook rolled over so that he lied down on his back. He opened his eyes and saw his cousin stooping his face down low with a smile. Now Mettaton had been doing this for a while now so he was used to it. The first time he did it, Napstablook freaked out and flew around his room. It took them an hour to catch him and get him to calm down, then his batteries were all drained and he had to be charged.

Now that Napstablook knew that, he didn't freak out and he just closed his eyes. He rolled over and turned away from his cousin.

Besides, why would he wake up? He was comfortable in his own room; the sunlight was peeking through his satin curtains, the air was quite dry but cool, and the place was calm for once... and he always did love the comfort of his own home. He didn't want to get up from his bed.

“Five more minutes, Pinky...” said Napstablook as he snuggled to his cozy pillows and his warm, soft blanket.

“Not even if I say... we're going to a place with WATER?” said Mettaton.

“...”

“... Funny, that always worked in one of Alphys' weird cartoons.” said Mettaton as he sat on the side of his cousin's bed, intentionally bouncing on it a little. “This well-built guy says something about 'water', and his dolphin boyfriend strips off...”

“They're not boyfriends, they're just best friends.” said Napstablook without moving.

“I don't believe it... wait, you watch it too?! Since when??” said Mettaton as he looked back at him.

“...”

“Anyway, Blooky. Wakey wakey, we're wasting time here.” said Mettaton as he twisted his body a little more, but not too much, so that he can shake his cousin awake. It didn't work though.

“The bed is magnetizing me...” said the other as he never moved from his spot.

“We already charged you for like twelve hours yesterday, plus an extra eight hours right now.” said Mettaton as he pulled on the blankets a little. He seemed to be looking at his cousin's back.

“Yes, give me another twenty four hours...” said Blooky, and then he just squeaked. He felt something touch his nape and then he bolted awake as he sat up on his bed. He looked a little irritated when he looked at his cousin who just sat near him.

“Rise and shine, Blooky~” Mettaton giggled.

“Why did Doctor ever make that button...” said Napstablook.

Alphys had just made a button by Napstablook's nape that acted as an emergency button. Should the robot be unwilling to move when necessary, as in a fire, earthquake, or any other calamity... pressing the button will help him boost his senses but at the cost of twice the power. Mettaton pressed it slightly so that it was enough to wake him up, but not enough to trigger his system to use twice the power.

“I told you to get enough rest for today because it's a special day!” said Mettaton as he brushed his cousin's hair, the latter still a tad grumpy.

“Is it another performance...” said Napstablook, his face grumpy but his voice normal. “... My face is stuck...”

Mettaton slapped him and his face started to act normal again. “No darling, we're taking a break. We recorded a few episodes to take some days off, remember?”

“... Oh......” said Napstablook as he began to remember. The sudden jolt earlier temporarily scrambled his memory that he didn't remember anything but a few data he considered essential; like his relationship with his cousin.

“That's why I said it was important, my darling.” said Mettaton as he began to clean his cousin's face of smudges and stray dirt. “So, did you pack all your things yet?”

“...” Napstablook looked to his side. His bags were ready. The night before, he began packing his things for a three-day, two-night vacation with his cousin. Only the two of them were going on this trip; Papyrus and Shyren were left behind to help maintain things in their absence.

“Marvelous~” said Mettaton as he helped his cousin up and then he called up Papyrus to carry his cousin's belongings to their car.

The two skeleton brothers walked in not long after. The taller went ahead to grab Napstablook's bags.

  
``“``hey. i heard the two of you were going so i decided to drop by and say goodbye.” said Sans as he walked in with his brother Papyrus. He then turned to the shy white-haired robot. “oh hey. glad to hear about your promotion. so... i guess someday we'll both perform on stage, eh?”

Napstablook recognised him as one of the comedians/performers of his cousin. He did not show it much, but he had somehow looked up to this lazy skeleton after he saw Sans perform a couple of times while he was on his break.

“Oh... uh... I-I hope so...” said Napstablook a little shyly. “B-But... your performances are pretty funny and... I'm not... ummm... I-I don't know...”

It had been a week or so after Napstablook had been reintroduced as DJ Wave. He had gotten used to it a little, but he was still quite camera shy compared to all the other performers. He seemed to be more used to just being a DJ without having to say anything to the audience, but as they say, the show must go on.

“relax, kid. you'll do great. i've seen you perform and you're fine.” Sans tiptoed and patted his shoulder. He looked over his own shoulder to see his brother struggle with so many bags. “uh... i guess i better go help him before he breaks something.”

Sans helped Papyrus carry some of the bags, then they went outside to put his belongings in the back of the car. The car was similar to Papyrus' convertible, but it was a bright metallic magenta instead of red, and it was of a more updated model. Its hood was down so that the people could admire them more as they drove around the streets. It glimmered in the sunshine; it looked like the car of a star.

Papyrus was panting hard after they loaded the car, but he still had a smile on his face. “HUFF! WELL, THERE YA GO, METTATON! HOPE YOU AND YOUR COUSIN HAVE A FUN TRIP!”

“yeah, we'll take care of everything from here.” said Sans.

“WHA- SINCE WHEN DID YOU WORK HERE?!” said Papyrus. “GO BACK TO YOUR POST!”

“He worked here since FOREVER, darling.” Mettaton said as he got in the driver's seat. He put on his scarf and his summer hat. “Even since we were down under. He didn't tell you?”

“NOPE! SANS, JUST HOW MANY JOBS DO YOU HAVE ANYWAY?!” said Papyrus.

“just enough.” Sans smiled as he saw the reaction of his brother.

Napstablook got on the passenger's seat. As the brothers were still having their usual bickering (mostly on Papyrus' side, Sans stayed cool), Mettaton put sunglasses on his cousin. He wore his own sunglasses as well and then he hit his horn to alarm the brothers. It did alarm Papyrus, but not Sans.

“We're going now, darlings. Make sure that everything is in order!” said Mettaton as he smiled at them.

“SURE, METTATON! THIS PLACE WILL BE BETTER WHEN YOU GET BACK! I PROMISE!” said Papyrus.

Mettaton waved at the both of them and then he drove off. Papyrus waved until they were out of sight.

The two drove around Monster City, a city named by the former king Asgore, who had now retired to a simpler life as a gardener and part-time educator. The city was smaller than the country's main city, but it was urbanized enough. It was a little past early morning in the city and the people had just gone to their own jobs, so there weren't too many loitering around the streets.

The buildings were something to marvel at; it wasn't as high as those in the main city, but they were designed by pro urban planners and so they were efficiently-designed without compromising their appearance. Most of them were about five floors high, but some bigger buildings were as high as fifteen floors. It was a pretty good development for a city that had just started about a year ago. The monsters were so enthusiastic to build their own city.

“Isn't it wonderful, Blooky?” said Mettaton as he drove around the streets. Some people were still outside the streets and they began waving at them as well as taking pictures of them.

“It's gone a long way...” said Napstablook as he looked up at the buildings. He tried not to mind the people since he was still a little camera shy when not performing.

They finally drove past the crowd and onto some quieter streets. Some streets were closed due to some construction.. Some were... concealed. It was so that Mettaton can use them as a shortcut from time to time; streets can get very congested especially during peak hours, so he decided to get himself a special shortcut. Nobody knew that his shortcut was supposed to be a street though. It's narrow enough for only one car to go in and out of, and it was in-between high buildings. It was assumed to be a dead-end alley that was supposedly inhabited by ghosts.

“I can't believe people are actually afraid of ghosts.” said Mettaton with a little disappointment in his tone. “I mean, really. Why would they be?! Ghosts are cute. Humans would SMOOCH a ghost!”

“Um... well, technically... they don't and they can't...” Napstablook gave it some thought. “But I guess it's good they're afraid of us...”

“We're stars, darling. They love us.” said Mettaton with a smirk.

“But what if they find out we're ghosts...?” asked his cousin.

“... They will never know.”

Mettaton switched to third gear and stepped on the pedal so they went faster. Napstablook only looked around and tried to find out if ghosts did live around the area. He felt a little bad that he and his cousin were living in posh rooms while other people of his kind live around dead alleys... not that they hated it, of course, but he thought that ghosts deserved better. He turned his eyes to the road once more.

“PINKY, LOOK OUT!!” screamed the normally quiet robot as he pointed at the road.

“What? WHAAAA-” Mettaton panicked but managed to step on the brakes just in time.

The car stopped abruptly, but just in time too. Thankfully they weren't injured at all when they checked on each other; no dented arms or damaged circuits. In front of them was what seemed to be a crash dummy.

“... Blooky, that was just a crash dummy. Nobody ever passes through here, and I doubt ghosts get hurt. We just phase through things, remember?” said Mettaton with a sigh.

“I-I guess... I'm sorry...” said Napstablook as he looked a little sad.

“Shh... it's fine. If we hit it, then our car could get damaged too. Let's just move it off the road and-”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING DUMMY, DUMMY?!”

“...”

The dummy began to move and it crawled its way on top of the hood of the car. It began to reach for their windshield. The two cousins hugged each other in surprise, but Mettaton soon looked angry. He parted from his cousin and stood from his seat. He then knelt on his seat and held onto the windshield as he looked down at the dummy that was still crawling at the time.

“Then what were you doing on the road?! I pass by here every now and then and if you hang out here then you should know that!” said Mettaton.

“Look at the robot speaking. Then why were you driving in an ALLEY?!” said the dummy.

“As I said... this was my PERSONAL ROAD, it's not really an alley!” argued Mettaton.

“ENOUGH TALK! DUMMIES! ASSEMBLE!!” yelled the dummy as it floated in mid-air.

From the trash cans and boxes came out dummies; some where just hiding behind the shadows this whole time. As it was between tall buildings, it was quite dim, but not too dark, for humans to see even in daylight. The two cousins were able to see perfectly thanks to their advanced eyes.

The dummies surrounded their car and they floated all around the two.

“You FOOLS! IDIOTS! Don't you know who I am?!” said Mettaton as he came out of his car.

“Pinky!” cried Napstablook as he reached out for him, but he was too late. He decided to get out of the car before his cousin did anything rash.

“We know you're a poser.” said one of the dummies.

“We could feel what you really are.” said another dummy.

A particular dummy went closer to Mettaton and grabbed his arm.

“H-Hey!” said the idol as he tried shaking his arm away from it.

“...” the dummy did not say anything; it just seemed to stare into Mettaton's eyes.

“HEY, LET GO OF MY COUSIN!!” Blooky yelled as he gave a roundhouse kick to it, then it fell apart on the ground.

“DUMMIES, enough fooling around! ATTACK!!” said the leader dummy they had almost run over from before. “ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!!”

“Pinky... stay behind me.” said Napstablook as he went in front of him.

The dummies circled around them and high above their heads. They began to hurl magic at them, but the quiet robot didn't run away. He created a blue shield made of electromagnetic power in front of him and behind his cousin. With it, he deflected most of their attacks... meaning some of their magic was powerful enough to penetrate through the shield. Mettaton was unharmed, but Napstablook...

“Blooky!” said Mettaton as he tended to his injured cousin, who had still been standing despite some pain.

“Slight burn... it's fine, don't worry too much.” said Napstablook as he held onto his injured arm. He looked angry with himself. “P-Pinky... I think we should just drive away from here.”

“Huh? Alright, let's try that.” said Mettaton and then they both hurriedly went inside the car.

The drove as fast as they could to get to the dead end of the alley, but the dummies chased after them and blocked their path. Mettaton hit his car horn in frustration.

“CAN'T YOU TAKE A HIKE?!” yelled Mettaton. Not being able to proceed and having seen his cousin injured was enough for him to blow a fuse... literally.

“P-Pinky, calm down!” said Napstablook. “Maybe... maybe we could try talking to them.”

…

The dummies were not much for a conversation, and nobody was happy with it.

“Idiots. Idiots! IDIOTS!!” yelled the dummy as it threw an arm at Mettaton.

Napstablook went in front of his cousin and caught the arm before it hit him. He glared at the dummies one by one and some of them floated away as a reaction. Mettaton noticed this and then put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He looked surprised by how his cousin Blooky had been acting.

“Blooky, that's enough. Maybe you're right... let's try talking to them. Listen. Why did you assault us? We stopped before you were run over. And even then... I don't think you can get hurt through physical means, right? You're ghosts in dummies' bodies.” said Mettaton. “... And you don't seem like you have gone corporeal yet.”

“No, but YOU have!” said the leader dummy.

“... So you're jealous of our success, is that it?” said Mettaton while he raised his brow and crossed his arms.

“No, because you think you're some big shot just because you became corporeal already!” said the leader.

“...” Napstablook looked up at the leader.

“Oh, and you think stardom is easy to achieve? Darling, I worked for this.” said Mettaton. He did seem a little alarmed that the ghost knew he wasn't an artificial soul.

“... Didn't you work as that scary fish woman's dummy?” asked Napstablook in a quiet tone.

“Huh? Who're you?” said the dummy; its tone changed a little.

“I knew it. I lived next door... remember the sound mixer and snail farm owner?” said Napstablook as he stepped forward.

“... WAIT. WAIT, is that you?! You're that guy who has tears made out of acid, right? I remember!” said the dummy. The other dummies seemed to be less hostile now. “Wha... now you're a big shot too?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU CORPOREAL PEEPS THINKING YOU'RE SO... SO CORPOREAL?! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ATTACHED TO HIGH-END BODIES DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING!!”

“Hey, don't yell at Blooky like that!” said the idol.

“... Are you that pink ghost that left him for whatever reason?” said the mad dummy. “I knew it. You felt just as self-absorbed as you were when you were still a ghost!”

“...” Mettaton bit his lip and then punched the dummy hard enough that he knocked the ghost out of it. “Stop rubbing it in, okay?! I... I came back for him. Okay? I was late to do so... but I came back for him, and from now on we'll be performing together like we promised!”

The ghost growled, their ghostly teeth gnashed. All the other dummies came out of their dummies as well after the mad ghost stared at them.

“WHY DID YOU COME OUT?! Why didn't you attack??” said the mad ghost.

“We thought you wanted us to be ghosts again!” said one of them.

“DUMMIES!” yelled the ghost. They began to furiously nag at the other ghosts, to which the others bowed their heads in shame.

“Sigh... come on, Blooky. There's no use talking to fools like him.” said Mettaton.

“...” Napstablook made his way to the passenger's seat, but he stopped. He looked back at the ghosts and saw a different one among the crowd; they weren't there during the attack, so they caught his eye.  


“Madsta! Why are you scolding them again?” there called another ghost from behind them.

“Shysta! I... uh. Hey, why are you out of your body?” said the leader ghost who had been called Madsta.

“Because everyone's outside of their body, that's why.” said Shysta as they floated towards the scene. They looked at the robot cousins from head to toe, and then floated around them, as if they studied the two.

“Do you need an autograph?” Mettaton raised a brow as his eyes followed the floating Shysta.

“No, you're just... familiar.” said Shysta.

“...” Mettaton looked like he was getting an internal crisis with all these ghosts not recognising who he was, given that he was so self-conscious and he wanted to badly to be known by everyone.

“He's... don't you recognise THE Mettaton from the MTT Show?” asked Napstablook as soon as he noticed his cousin looking horrible.

“Nope.” said Shysta as they looked at the shorter robot. Mettaton looked devastated.

“Um... but, you do remember the... the snail farm underground, right?” said Napstablook. “I used to work there. I'm...”

“You're Napstablook.” said Shysta. “I've seen you around the ruins when I inhabited that dummy... I was one of the first people that Frisk talked to. I wish I wasn't too shaken up... anyway, I'm not really sure who this person with you is... hmm...”

“That's... that's my cousin. Remember?” Napstablook tried to jog Shysta's memory, as they seemed to have met as acquaintances before.

“... I remember.” said Shysta as their eyes lit up. “Your pink cousin, right? The more outgoing one?”

“Yes... but... why did you know me, and not my cousin?” asked Napstablook.

“Madsta mentioned you crying tears of acid earlier... I would have recognised your cousin too if he didn't seem so... different.” said Shysta.

“... I think I somewhat remember who you are now.” said Mettaton after he regained some of his composure. He took a few deep breaths before he continued. “You two used to visit our farm, right? You lived in the garbage dump.”

“Yeah, but we're usually not there.” said Madsta as they and the other ghosts had finally calmed down thanks to Shysta's interference. “We looked for bodies to inhabit. That stupid ambassador scared my cousin out of their previous body, but eh. I guess I can forgive them just this once.”

“Inhabiting dummies... just like the rest of our family.” said Mettaton with his arms crossed. “Only Blooky and I were left to take care of the family business, and Shyren was one of the people we befriended in the process.”

“Why did you leave your cousin?” asked Madsta as they and their cousin floated side by side.

“... That's none of your business.” said Mettaton. He held Napstablook's hand tightly. “What matters is we're back together and stronger than ever.”

Napstablook nodded in agreement. “Um... can we pass through now? We were just passing by since this is a shortcut... but it seems we had disturbed you by accident...”

“I'm sorry for my cousin.” said Shysta as they bowed their head. “He gets jealous easily.”

“H-Hey, why do YOU have to apologise for me?! I'M APOLOGISING FOR MYSELF!” Madsta bowed their head and went in front of Shysta. “But next time, you have to INFORM us that you're passing by here! We live here, you know!”

“In a dump?” Mettaton raised a brow.

“IT'S LIKE HOME, OKAY?!” Madsta yelled though they were still trying to act “nice”.

“Uh huh... yeah. You know, why don't you two come along with us? We could show you around and you may find a better place to stay in. You can come back here when you've decided a real place to stay in.” said Mettaton.

“... What do you think, Madsta?” asked Shysta.

“What's the catch?” Madsta raised a brow at this.

“The CATCH, is that you will have to try to fit in. But in return you'll have a better place to stay in than a shortcut for vehicles.” said Mettaton. “If we're lucky, we could find a place big enough for you to rent. What do you say?”

Shysta seemed passive and just awaited their cousin's decision. Madsta gave it some thought and then they flew to the back of the car, as if they sat on Mettaton and Napstablook's belongings. Shysta followed suit and sat beside their cousin. The robot idol raised a brow at this, and then looked at the other ghosts. They seemed to shy away and resigned to their own resting places in the alley; some in garbage cans, some in boxes, some just in random places on the ground.

Napstablook took a seat in the passenger's seat and waited for Mettaton to come in and drive the sports car. Everything is now eerily quiet, as if nothing had happened just a few moments ago. The robot idol just sighed at this and buckled up to drive once more. He fixed his hair and his accessories to look fresh again, should there be fans waiting in the other side.

They finally drove off and out of the alley... Mettaton pressed a switch on his keychain that made the dead end of the alley slide open so that they can pass through.  


Finally they drove until they were outside of the city and onto the expressway. They could feel the sun against their... skin, the wind in their hair... well, for the robot cousins anyway. The two ghosts from the backseat looked to their side to enjoy the view.

The view was a beautiful meadow by the countryside with flowers blooming here and there. Monster City was a few hours away from other cities out of practical reasons. Many humans still hadn't welcomed them since they escaped the underground, but humans weren't also allowed to hurt them as new laws had protected the rights of monsters.

Mettaton had it easier than most since he looked humanoid and his fascination for humans helped him act more flexible towards them. Some monsters were braver than others that, even if they could experience discrimination, they decided to thrive in other nearby cities anyway. Some of them succeeded, some of them had below-minimum wage incomes... so most of them actually came back to Monster City for a fresh new start.

The fresh wind, the warm sun, and the beautiful flowers soon helped them forget some of these worries and fears they had been facing. Napstablook and the other two ghosts enjoyed the cool ride.

“Where are you taking us, anyway?” said Madsta, now a little calmer.

“We're going to another city. Since Monster City's population is getting denser and denser like Papyrus' skull, I've decided to try getting you a home there.” said Mettaton.

***

Meanwhile, back in Monster City...

“OW! I bit my tongue!” said Papyrus and put his hands on his mouth.

“pap... you don't have a tongue.” said Sans as he patted his brother's back.

***

The ghosts continued to have their ride...

“What's with all this?” said Shysta as they referred to the robots' belongings.

“We WERE going to have a vacation all to ourselves until your cousin attacked us without warning.” Mettaton growled, still apparently irked.

Napstablook took notice of this and patted his shoulder. He sighed and then looked back at the other two ghosts. “But it's all fine now. Please don't do it again... alright?”

“We're sorry...” Shysta bowed their head again.

“No, I'M sorry!” said Madsta when he noticed Shysta apologising again. “Anyway! I hope this place you're taking us to is good enough!”

“Yes well... since you two lack a life, we've decided to take you to a different city. Blooky and I will be hanging out and you two will be hanging out on your own. Capiche?” Mettaton looked at them from the rear side mirror.

“We understand.” Shysta nodded and looked regretful of their previous actions.

Madsta looked at their cousin and then flew above the car and to the hood of the car. They sat there and laughed, as they looked back at their cousin. Shysta smiled a little and then followed them to the hood and sat there. They began laughing to themselves as they basked in the wind and sunlight.

“...” Mettaton didn't react at all, but he did look like he was somewhat disappointed. Not by them sitting on the hood in front of the windshield but... by everything. He wanted to be alone with his own cousin, but he had to accommodate the other two ghosts. He told himself it was for the good of the other many ghosts in the alley, anyway.

“You did the right thing.” Napstablook smiled as he looked at the two ghosts on the hood. He closed the roof of their car so that he wouldn't have much difficulty talking to the idol. “Look at them... they look so happy. And... helping our kind is the best thing to do.”

“They shouldn't be spoonfed. When we help them find someplace else to live, then they're on their own.” said Mettaton as he looked like he felt a little better after Napstablook talked to him.

“Yes well, spoonfeeding is different from helping...” the shy robot nodded. “When others help you, you must help yourselves too... you will not make any real progress if you don't.”

Mettaton glanced and smiled at his cousin and then looked at the road before them. He was beginning to appreciate the road trip even with the two other ghosts. Hearing his cousin's words made him feel even better about the ghosts, though they had been quite rowdy and mean before. They now seem complacent and friendly as they laughed on the hood of the car.

“Blooky, you never told me about them. Did you meet them when I... left for show business?” asked Mettaton while he kept his eyes on the road.

“Yes. Sometimes they would look at my snails, or sometimes I would catch that scary fish woman beating them up as a dummy. What was her name again... Undyne? Yes, her. I remember now.” said Napstablook as he snapped his fingers.

“... Undyne? Huh. I forgot her name, honestly... but I do remember what she looked like now that you mention it.” said Mettaton as he fixed his sunglasses. “She wanted to wrestle with you, right?”

“...” Napstablook bit his lip and looked away a little. “She was scary...”

The road trip went on as they drove on the long expressway. The view by the side of the lanes had so many beautiful and colourful flowers; then they eventually saw the windmills in the distance to add to the beautiful, serene flower patches in the distance. The ghosts could only marvel at it and laugh to themselves about how fair and marvelous it looked for them who had only seen such sceneries via computer-generated graphics shown on the telly.

“I can't believe that humans basically wallowed in this kind of beauty...” said the shy robot as he peeked beyond Mettaton to see the view on his side. “Look at those... giant electric fans...”

“Those are called 'windmills', darling. So many windmills... of your mind.” Mettaton trailed his sentence off with a tune. “They generate electricity and power just like our thermal plants back in Hotland, do you remember?”

“Oh.... that's wonderful.”

The ghosts phased through the windshield and went back inside the now-hooded car, and back to their seats. They were laughing to themselves as they looked outside the window. They could hear themselves better now that the convertible car had its hood on... though they still talked in loud voices since they were used to competing with the noise of the wind.

“HEY, ARE WE GOING TO LIVE IN ONE OF THOSE GIANT ELECTRIC FANS??” Madsta said at the top of their lungs.

“I would love to live in one of those!” said Shysta, who, even at the top of their lungs, had a fairly demure voice akin to Napstablook's.

“Do you really want to?” asked Mettaton as he peered at them via the rear view mirror.

“HECK YEAH!” said Madsta with a smile.

“I'm sure the others would love it too!” said Shysta.

Both of them looked delighted as they continued to look at the many different windmills that they saw in the distance. At first there were only two, four, six... but now there was a whole field full of windmills! It went on for an hour or two of driving until they were past them. The ghosts seemed a little sad that there were no more windmills, but they looked determined to live in one of them someday.

“I'll be talking to one of the owners so I can buy one of those windmills. Then you have to pay me the rent, understood?” said Mettaton as he continued to drive.

“Gotcha!” Madsta nodded. “But... where do we get the cash? Maybe... HEY! You're a star right? Can you also give us a job?”

“You're quite the demanding type, are you not? Madd... Angs... what was your name again? Angus Beef?” Mettaton raised a brow as he focused on the road.

“It's Spook! Madstaspook. And this is Shystaspook.”

“... Tongue-twisting names, you have.” said Mettaton.

“Did you think that Napstablook isn't a tongue-twister? And so is your name, uhh... what was your name again?” asked the rowdy ghost.

“Mettaton.” replied the idol, quite bluntly actually.

“Pinky...” his cousin sighed and then looked back at the two ghosts. “Pi- I mean, Mettaton's somewhat moody today. I hope you don't mind.”

“We all have those days... we understand.” Shysta nodded and then they looked at their rowdy cousin. “... Right, Madsta?”

“... Fine.” Madsta rolled their eyes.

Napstablook smiled at this and then he sat comfortably in his seat once more to face the road. He just looked at his cousin and made sure that they were focused; any lack of energy and he had to activate Mettaton's solar panels on his shoulder pads... thankfully, there was no need for any instance of that.

Until a few hours later, they finally came across a grand-looking hotel. They parked near the trees, just in front of the hotel drive-thru and near its restaurant. It looked like a high-end hotel, but not exactly one of those five-star hotels; it did look quite classy though.

“MTT Hotel... wait, you have a hotel all the way out here?” said Napstablook as he and the other two ghosts looked up at it. The logo of the hotel had Mettaton's engraved face on it made of gold.

Mettaton proceeded and the employees and hotel attendants came to his aid immediately. All of them were monsters; he had no human employee yet, even when the hotel was just an hour away from a human city. He gestured the attendants to help the other three, who were left staring at the logo in awe. The attendants took their belongings and gave the robot cousins their room key, since Mettaton had his own suite in the highest floor. He looked at the other two ghosts and requested a room of their own, just near the suite. The room they were given were not as grand as Mettaton's suite, but just enough for the two of them to enjoy above-standard hotel features.

They went up the highest room via elevator and took the two Spook cousins to their room. It was spacious enough for two ghosts to fly around in. There were two twin-sized beds with a lamp between them. The windows were closed for the air-conditioning of the room, but the curtains were open so that they can see a wonderful view of flower beds. There were also windmills to be seen in the far distance; they were quite small but they were just enough for one to see their basic features.

“WOW! I've never been in anything like this before!” said Madsta as they flew up the ceiling and stuck their head out to look down at them. “FAAAAAAALL ON YOUR KNEEEEEEES!!”

“This... is... so... bouncy!” Shysta said as they bounced on their own bed. They giggled at this, apparently very entertained by the bed alone.

“I hope you two darlings enjoy your stay. Blooky and I will be out later, so don't hesitate to call for room service if you need anything.” said Mettaton.

Madsta flew down and decided to try using the phone for customer service.

“Hello?” said the attendant from the other line.

“Hello!” said Madsta in an unintentionally goofy voice out of excitement. They hung up after.

“... Looks like we'll have to teach you everything around here, won't we?” Mettaton shook his head and ran his hand along his face in distraught.

“It looks like it.” Napstablook looked a little worried as he gave out a nervous smile.

The Blooks went in the Spooks' room and helped them understand the hotel features better. Mettaton told them how to contact customer service and Napstablook helped them understand how wifi worked. They also showed the Spooks how showers and bathtubs worked in hotels, as it seems that they were used to using only buckets and pails to bathe themselves; sometimes they'd settle for a basin of water. Everything was very new and luxurious to them that having to stay in a hotel excited them greatly.

“And that, is the television. Look.” Mettaton turned the telly on and it showed his recorded noontime show. “See? You use this to adjust the volume... and you use this to... actually, what would you use this for? Blooky?”

“You use it to change the channels...” said Napstablook as he looked at the remote control.

“Oh. Whatever.” Mettaton shrugged. “So... yes, that's about it, darlings. Blooky and I will get some shut-eye so feel free not to disturb us. Long trips really take a toll on my joints... I need to oil myself a little more these days.”

The Blooks decided to leave the room and let the Spooks have their time to explore their hotel room. As soon as they closed the door, they began to talk to each other as they made their way to their suite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter's a little longer... truth be told I'm not sure how many chapter ACID tears will have, but here! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Honestly I also thought that Mettaton, Blooky, and the Mad Dummy were all related when I read the diary... but I gave it a little more thought and I went with the idea that maybe Mettaton was talking about a different cousin-turned-training dummy. After all... Undyne's training dummy was just next door! Blooky and Mettaton would have been alone taking care of the snail farm, but technically speaking their cousin wouldn't have "left" them.
> 
> So I'm thinking the Mad Dummy is the one outside of Undyne's house, and the cousin who found a training dummy for a body in Mettaton's journal is completely different. I took his journal as an explanation of all the other dummies in general, whether or not those inhabiting ghosts were their cousins.
> 
> I hope that made sense!
> 
> So in my fanfic, Blooky and Metta are cousins; while Madsta and Shysta are cousins. Basically we have two pairs of cousins from different ghost families/clans!


	6. Missing You...

###  **Chapter 6: Missing You...**

  


 

“Wow... so this is their first time to be in a hotel, huh?” said Napstablook as he looked up at his cousin.

“I guess. They are too excited.” said Mettaton as he unlocked their suite. He smiled at his cousin before he opened the door. “I hope you enjoy your stay here, Blooky.”

“...” the shy robot could do nothing but marvel; his eyes wide and his mouth left agape.

The suite looked wonderful. It had a modern, serene ambience to it. It was fully air-conditioned and almost soundproof, so that the only kind of noise they can hear from the outside are the pitter-patter of the falling rain. There were two queen-sized beds that were apart from each other; there were drawers just beside the beds, with nightlights on top of them. There was a grand painting of Mettaton just above the two beds that caught Napstablook's attention.

“Um......” Napstablook said without saying anything else. He just stared at it and sat on his own bed, nearer to the exit and the bathroom.

Mettaton strutted over to his own bed nearer to the window and the balcony. “Darling, aren't you used to this by now?”

“Yes, but... wow...” Napstablook sighed and then began to unpack his things. The first thing he took out was his music player and his headset, as well as his mini speakers. He set his mp3 player to play relaxing hotel music on his speaker.

Mettaton sat on his bed and stared at the giant plasma-screen television in front of their beds. “Huh. They had a smaller screen from the last time I saw this.”

Napstablook stood from his bed and went out to the balcony. The view from the seventh floor of the hotel, the penthouse, is breathtaking. The sun was already about to set and the symphony of chirping crickets began. The wind was quite strong, but refreshing. It almost felt like it embraced him as he looked at the wonderful view of the sleeping flowers and the distant windmills. Swallows flew about every now and then in the beautiful amber sky full of fluffy greyish clouds.

“Pinky, I thought stars only appeared during nighttime... what's that thing beside the sun?” Napstablook called out.

“Oh. That must be Mercury.” said Mettaton as he went out to the balcony to watch the sunset with his cousin. “That's not a star, that's a planet.”

“What's a planet?” asked his cousin.

“A planet is actually first defined as a moving star... a wandering star.” Mettaton started to explain as he looked up at the skies. “But it wasn't until the space age of the humans that they found out that stars and planets were different. Our earth is a planet... hey, actually. You're a robot now. Can't you just Google it or something?”

“...” Napstablook closed his eyes for a while before he opened them and looked at his cousin. “Wifi is weak...”

“Sigh.” Mettaton chuckled a little. “Anyway, that's no star. That's Mercury, a planet like ours but without humans or monsters. It always stays close to the sun because it thinks the sun is hot. Rawr!”

“Don't all planets have humans and monsters?” asked the other.

“Nope.” Mettaton shrugged as he looked at him. “Earth is the only planet with humans and monsters. Sad, huh? I was planning to make a station on the moon before they told me that it was a desert.”

“I always thought it was made of cheese...” said Napstablook.

“Actually... do you remember why we came all the way out here?” asked the brunette.

“...” the white-haired robot tried to remember. “Right..... you told me that we will be watching the stars out tonight.”

“That's right, so get your things ready.” Mettaton smiled. “Once the sun sets, we're going out to watch some stars. They're better when viewed from the fields.”

Later that night, the two cousins set out to watch the stars. Mettaton drove to a place with grassy meadows and sleeping flowers. There were fireflies floating about the area to Napstablook's awe. He couldn't stop staring at them; they looked like little pieces of magic that reminded him of the underground... but much better, in his opinion. He tried to catch some, but they always flew away just in time.

Mettaton called his attention. He had his hands to his hips as he raised his brow with a slight smirk... til he grinned. Napstablook giggled at him; Mettaton's smile was dazzling. Literally. He had just caught some fireflies in his mouth enough to have his beautiful dazzling smile, before he opened his mouth and set them all free.

“I guess you can call me a dragon. I breathe fire... flies.” he giggled as he went to his cousin. He tapped his shoulder. “Tag! You're it, Blooky!”

He laughed as he began to run away from his cousin. It looked like it took a while for Napstablook to process it; but once he did, he laughed and chased after Mettaton. It took him a while to catch his cousin. He eventually tackled him and they both fell to the ground, with their laughter that filled the cool, calm meadows.

The two lied down next to each other flat on their backs and looked up the clear night skies full of beautiful, twinkling stars. They stared in awe; most especially the white-haired robot who had never gone stargazing before. He could not help but look all around.

“Next time, I'll install a planetarium app in your hard drive.” Mettaton chuckled a little. “For now... can you make out any shapes out of the stars?”

“Hmm... I think that looks like a cheesecake.” said Napstablook.

“Blooky, that's the moon.”

“...”

Napstablook looked sheepish as he looked for other stars to gaze at. “How... how many do you think there are?”

“Who knows? There are probably billions and trillions out there!” said Mettaton. He pointed up at the skies. “Look, I see a bunny!”

“I see... I see... stars...” Napstablook looked up at the skies with so much awe, that he wasn't able to process data properly. “Say... Pinky...... remember that time when.... when you first called me Blooky?”

“Huh? Oh yeah!” Mettaton laughed a little and grinned.

“You were pretty mean...” Napstablook chuckled a little.

“Hey, I had to be mean to cheer you up a little! I mean... you're such a BLUE key! Cookie. Blooky. You needed to be a little... you know, happy!”

“Yeah, and you were so pink... Pinky.”

They both laughed to themselves as they remembered their simple lives as ghosts. They used to have so much fun together, they would always be together to practice performances or watch television... they were very inseparable. Until that one day that choices had to be made... and the two were torn apart. But fate brought them back together to watch the stars under the beautiful clear sky.

“Blooky...” Mettaton said in a soft voice. “I promise I will never leave you again like that... I was such a jerk...”

“Pinky... don't worry about it. It's all in the past and... I mean, look at you. I would have been holding you back from your dreams... if you didn't take that leap then we're probably stuck in snail business...” said Napstablook.

“I actually miss the snail business but... heh, you have a point. I was born for show business.” Mettaton took a deep breath. “I...”

There was a sudden awkward silence between the two. Mettaton seemed to be staring off to space longer than he should have; as if he was in a trance. His cousin felt a little alarmed so he knelt and began shaking him awake.

“Pinky? Pinky! What's wrong?” said his worried cousin.

“H-Huh?” the idol snapped out of his trance and looked up at Napstablook. “I... what happened?”

“... You tell me...” Napstablook seemed to be a little relieved. “Don't worry about it anymore..... it's stressing your circuits... I don't want to be a bother to you....”

“Blooky, you were never a bother! A-Anyway, what do you think of the stars? Pretty neat to see real ones up close (besides me), right?”

“Yeah...... thanks, Pinky... I've never gone stargazing before...”

Mettaton smiled and then sighed heavily. “You're welcome... hey, Blooky? Do you want to come back here tomorrow?”

“Yeah.... are you tired?” asked Napstablook and then helped him get up so that they both knelt in front of each other. The white-haired ghost noticed the weariness in his cousin's eyes. “Wow..... Metta, you're tired.... come on, we'd better go home...”

“I'll... I can drive...” said Mettaton as he stood up and took a deep breath. “I guess I just forgot to charge today. Silly me! Sorry for the worry, darling.”

“...” Napstablook only nodded at this and then got on the passenger seat. He watched his cousin as they drove through the fresh spring road once more to get back to the hotel. He was worried for him; he may not be able to drive properly with how tired he looked.

Honestly though, he didn't know what to think. Mettaton looked fine not too long ago, but suddenly amidst their conversation... he started acting funny. He thought that something may be up, but he doesn't know what it was exactly. To prevent his imagination from going wild, he concluded it might have been a battery problem like how phones drain out so easily for some users.

“Pinky... thanks for taking me out to see the stars today. I hope we can do it again someday.....” said the shy robot to try getting a reaction out of the idol.

“No problem, Blooky. Anything for my cousin.” said Mettaton. He glanced at his cousin with a beautiful smile... but even through the smile, his cousin could see through the pain.

He didn't look like he was well. At least, not according to Napstablook.

As soon as they got back to their hotel room, Napstablook made Mettaton lie down on the bed while he sat on the bed beside him. He looked down at him worriedly. “Pinky... you don't feel well, do you? What's wrong....?”

“...” Mettaton looked away and curled up. He hugged his pillows as if he was pretending to sleep.

“Pinky... that's my thing. I know it when you're only pretending to sleep.” said Napstablook as he put his hand on the idol's shoulder.

“...” Mettaton didn't want to look at him and just hugged his pillows tighter, as if forcing himself to sleep.

“...” the shy robot sighed and decided to leave him be for the night; perhaps he shouldn't poke his nose around what isn't his business. He went over to his own bed and lied down on it while he listened to his tunes and went in a trance.

When robots go in trance at will, their eyes become blank as their consciousness dwells deep inside their vessel. It's their form of meditation and cleansing; sometimes, the day may prove to be stressful for their systems to handle. That is what their trance mode was made for; it was made for them to still be in touch with their own soul, and so that they may be able to cleanse their internal systems of unwanted data and trash files.

He went on trance for about an hour before he decided to snap out of it and just sleep instead. As he laid down on his side, he faced his cousin who slept on the other bed across him. Mettaton was in the same position as before, turned away from him.

“...” Napstablook still looked worried but hoped that the next day would be better for them. Probably the time that he went in trance was the time that Mettaton went in trance as well to try and clean his system.

The shy robot decided to call it a day as he closed his eyes. He decided that he will come to check up on his cousin the next day instead; probably by then, things would be better.

***

Meanwhile, from somewhere in the same floor...

“Madsta, are you still awake?”

“No, I'm asleep. Of course I'm awake ya dum- … yeah, I'm still awake.”

“...”

The two Spook cousins were in their own room, unable to sleep for the night. It was already midnight on the clock; and usually with nothing to do and as tired as they were from the trip, they should have felt sleepy at the very least. The lights were off and there was nothing but moonlight to illuminate their room; but it didn't help them fall asleep.

But they didn't feel sleepy at all.

“Madsta...”

“I know, I know. I can't sleep either.”

Madsta and Shysta looked troubled. They looked around; everything was calm and peaceful. Actually the only sounds they can hear are their own voices and the air conditioning unit in their room. Even then, it wasn't really noisy, it was actually quite soothing compared to their life in the city where they slept in the dump with occasional passersby on the streets near their shut-down alley.

“I want to sleep...” said Shysta. “...”

“Well, we can't. Even if we wanted to. Guess we just aren't sleepy? I... hey, Shysta.” Madsta suddenly looked a little conscious of their surroundings. “Shysta... do you hear that?”

“...”

The ghosts kept quiet and strained themselves to hear whatever it was. Shysta felt a little scared and they floated over to Madsta's bed to huddle over with them. They looked around and kept quiet. The room suddenly had an unsettling aura; they can't quite put a finger on it, but they knew that they didn't want to stay there any longer as soon as they know it was safe to move out.

There was an awkward silence until they heard something shuffle outside. There seemed to be slow footsteps just outside of the dimlit corridor. Shysta huddled closer to their cousin and looked at the door with fear.

“Shysta, keep quiet.” whispered Madsta. “Why are you so scared? If there's anything scary, it's us. We're GHOSTS. Remember?”

“But it could be a ghost outside!”

“WE'RE GHOSTS.”

“...” Shysta looked panicked to think straight. “W-Whatever it is, I don't like creepers! They could kill us!”

“WE'RE... GHOSTS. We can't be killed, we can't be physically hurt-”

The footsteps stopped in front of their doorway and soon there was knocking on the door. Shysta became even more scared that they hid under the blankets. But due to their panic, they phased right through it. They tried going under the blanket and the comforters repeatedly, but they only phased through it each time. Shysta began to cry...

And the knocks on the door became more insistent... until they became louder and demanding. Madsta went over to Shysta and cuddled them to comfort them... before they went to the door and growled. “We don't need anything, we don't need money, we didn't order for anything, so why don't you make like a tree and LEAVE?!”

The knocks seemed to stop; but they snarled and charged at the door anyway, only for them to phase through it. When they were outside of their room and into the corridor... nothing was there. Nothing. Nobody. At all. But they did see a trail of some black substance. As a ghost, Madsta did not know the exact texture since it usually just phases through them after a few moments of touching it.

“...” Madsta bit their ghostly lip and growled loudly, set to find whatever it was that scared the wits out of their cousin.

Shysta finally gathered enough courage to phase themself out of the room through the cement walls with lovely floral patterns. “Madsta...”

The sound of their cousin made Madsta calm down a little. “Shysta, why are you out here? Get back in there!”

“I don't like it here, Madsta... I...” Shysta continued to cry silently.

“Well, let's stay in that robot's room. We have to complain this to those robots.” growled Madsta, but Shysta shook their head.

“I don't want to disturb them... I don't want to stay here... I want to go home... people feel weird...” said Shysta as they floated away quickly, opposite of the direction of the suite of the Blooks.

“Wait, Shysta!” Madsta tried to chase them down.

***

The next day, Napstablook awoke to the face of an angry ghost right on top of him.

“GAH!” Napstablook screamed as he threw the pillow he had been hugging and backed to the headboard of his bed. He stared at the ghost who know floated in front of him and on his bed. It was Madsta, and he looked even more furious than usual.

“YOU *censored* ROBOT, WHERE ARE THEY?!” Madsta yelled at him and floated even closer in their fury.

“W-What? I don't know what you're talking about!” Napstablook panicked as he tried to defend himself.

The ghost cornered him and neared his face to intimidate him more. Napstablook looked so scared that all he was able to do was back off to the headboard even more. He looked up at the ghost that had floated to him and kept quiet.

“Shysta. My cousin Shysta. Don't act all clueless now!” said the furious ghost; their aura gone even redder than usual. “WHERE IS MY COUSIN SHYSTA?!”

“H-Huh? I-I didn't... see them...” replied the frightened robot as they turned their face away. In doing so, he caught glimpse of the bed just across his...

“P-Pinky...?” he said in a quiet tone. He looked shocked...

… The bed was empty. It was as if Mettaton had gone off in a hurry; the blankets and comforters disheveled, the pillows on the floor, the whole bed a horrible mess. He looked horrified to think of what must have happened; his memory flashed a playback of what had happened the night before. Mettaton was acting strangely, it was as if all of a sudden, he wasn't himself. Both of them seemed to dismiss the matter before anything happened. He wished that they didn't dismiss it as a battery problem...

“Pinky...” Napstablook got off his bed and went to the bathroom to try to see if his cousin was there... nobody was in it. He panicked to the point of looking at every nook and cranny in the room; from the closet, to under the bed, to small spaces like cabinets and jars... nothing.

There was no sign of Mettaton anywhere. None.

Napstablook began to break down in tears as he knelt on the ground, his eyes left fixed on nothing in particular... he looked so hopeless and regretful.

“I shouldn't have left him all alone... I shouldn't have... I-I... Pinky...” he said in a voice so quiet; Madsta almost didn't hear him.

***

“Great! GREAT! Now both of our cousins are missing!”

Napstablook was now sitting on his own bed as he bowed his head in sorrow and hopelessness. He kept quiet as he let the mad ghost rant his heart out... after all, it was an appropriate reaction this time. Both Mettaton and Shysta had gone missing. Amidst the ghost's rant, he stared at Mettaton's bed. It used to have his cousin on it... the happy face of his cousin enjoying the hotel service, the happy voice that would always call him “Blooky” so dearly and affectionately... now he's all gone. With no traces of where he may have gone... or not?

“...” Napstablook closed his eyes and tried to access his system data. He had a feature akin to cellphones; that when he needed to talk to Mettaton should he be away, he could call them via signals. After all, that was part of the reason why his cousin had a speaker on his chest. Part of it was so that it could be used to hear the other receiver on speaker; else it would only be heard by Mettaton alone. He also had a similar speaker akin to Mettaton; though it usually didn't show because he wore sweaters.

“...”

While Madsta kept on ranting in the background, he tried to get a signal. He hoped that he would be able to reach his cousin.

“...”

There was none, as he half-expected it.

“...”

Nobody picked up.

“...”

He began to cry softly until he eventually sobbed loud enough for the mad ghost to take notice of him. He wiped his tears with his sleeves, but he soon looked at it with a horrified stare. His tears were still made of acid... it may be stained or it could get ruined. He took off his sweater and Madsta reacted at this by covering their own eyes with their stubby ghostly hands.

“H-Hey! Don't do that when I'm here!” Madsta said, their tone still sounding a little angry, but it had softened. Probably it was from seeing Napstablook cry. They floated to the crying robot's side, to where he had taken off his sweater.

“Hey uh... Napstablook.” said the ghost. “I know... um...”

Madsta doesn't seem to be used to talking in a normal tone. They always spoke at the top of his lungs that they found it awkward to try and use a comforting tone all of a sudden. They didn't seem to have the words either...

“Napstablook ehhh...” Madsta scratched the back of their head. “Listen, I know our cousins are out there... okay? They're fine. They probably just... ehh... you know, found a place to stay in and had a slumber party without us.”

“...” Napstablook wiped his tears with his hands. He looked down at the ghost. “Do you really think I'm that stupid...? Pinky left me again... HE LEFT ME AGAIN, OKAY?! I'M A HORRIBLE COUSIN...”

Madsta was taken aback. They had never seen Napstablook act this way before; when Shysta talked of him, they would always talk about a shy, gentle individual who seemed very sad and lonely, but one who did not seem to seek the company of anyone. Or at least, that's what it seemed...

“Pinky left me again because I'm horrible... I'm horrible...... just like the time I held him down from his dreams.... I-I-I........”

Madsta huffed and grabbed the crying robot's face with both their stubby hands. “LISTEN! You. Are NOT. Horrible. Because you know why? Because I'm here. Because my cousin told me all about you. No, I have not heard of your cousin before. That's because.... that's because I don't have any real interest in television. But you... you know your cousin inside and out. You know who he is, you know his ambitions, you know everything about him. And you know... you know that he loves you very much. You know that... that he knows that you're not horrible. You know that.”

“...” Napstablook seemed to have calmed down a little. Tears still streamed from his delicate metallic cheeks, but he nodded slightly, ever so... resigned.

“We're going to find our cousins, okay? And they're both going to be okay.” Madsta insisted. He floated away a little to give the robot some space.

There was an awkward silence between the both of them as the room remained the way it was until authorities and hotel attendants came to their aid. People, both monsters and humans, came in the room to investigate and ask them questions to be used for further research. Madsta helped him get his sweater back on while they were getting asked some questions about the disappearance.

After they had been asked all the necessary questions, they were allowed to go for the day. Madsta insisted that he and Napstablook stay away from the people.

“GIVE THE BOT SOME SPACE, WILL YA?! HE JUST LOST HIS COUSIN, AND SO DID I! JUST... BUZZ OFF!” said Madsta as he tried not to cuss in public for the robot's sake. He floated away with the robot. Both of them came out of the hotel, side by side. Both didn't have the words to say; they just seemed too stricken with grief and confusion to be able to talk normally.

Napstablook activated his system again so that he may try to contact Mettaton, just one more time...

… no answer.

Tears began to stream down his face again as he just walked hopelessly with the floating ghost. He didn't know what else he can do. He tried to activate his GPS but... Mettaton's didn't seem to be activated. He couldn't detect him.

“Napstablook.” said the ghost. “If you can't contact him... give it some time. Listen, I want to go back to Monster City. We'll have better luck there... why? Because of my family. Remember those dummies? They're our family... our clan, if you will call it. We're not the best bunch but... we'll do everything we can in our power to find our lost cousins, no matter where they could be.”

“I..... can't drive....” Napstablook said passively.

“...” the ghost looked troubled as well; obviously he couldn't drive either. If only ghosts had some sort of a vehicle...

They heard a wacky-sounding car horn just nearby. It sounded like it was passing by near where they stood just outside of the hotel.

“DJ WAVE!!” called out a familiar-sounding voice.

The car pulled over right in front of them; it was none other than Papyrus and his brother Sans. Papyrus was driving while Sans was relaxing by the passenger seat with his sunglasses brushed away to the top of his head. The both of them waved at the DJ and the ghost.

“hey, deej. why so blue?” Sans said with his trademark grin, obviously another pun to Napstablook's colour scheme.

“SANS!!” Papyrus reacted. “HEY, DEEJ! WHO'S YOUR FRIEND?”

“...” Napstablook looked at them sadly.

Madsta sighed and floated to the backseat of the car and wore his seatbelt. “Hey, Napsta. Are you taking a ride or not?”

“your friend's assertive.” Sans said as he looked at the rearview mirror to see the ghost. “hop in, kiddo. we're going back to monster city.”

Napstablook only did what he was told and buckled up in the backseat of the car beside Madsta. All of them drove off as soon as they were all ready; back to the road where Mettaton drove them to get back to their city.

***

The two in the backseat were unusually quiet as they only peered outside their respective windows. Sans was smiling as his brother talked nonstop while he drove.

“AND THAT'S HOW I GOT MY JOB AS METTATON'S ASSISTANT!” said Papyrus as he smiled smugly.

“that's very interesting.” Sans said with a smile. He noticed the two in the backseat and just sighed. He took note of Napstablook most especially, who twitched a little when he heard Mettaton's name. “hey, pap... you think we could have a stopover sometime? the gas station's not too far from where we are.”

“HUH? WHY?”

“because i need to go number two.” said the older brother with a wink.

“EW!! GROSS, SANS!! GROSS!” Papyrus started to look repulsed as he no longer decided to talk too much all throughout the trip til they got to a stopover.

As soon as they got to the gas station, Papyrus parked his car. The gasoline station was a little quiet as not too many people were there. There were a few shops aligned for motorists to take the load off from driving before they set out once more; coffee shops, fastfood chains, burger stands... and a little ways away was the washroom should they need to use it.

“NOW GO... NUMBER TWO OR SOMETHING! SHEESH! I'LL COME BACK HERE WHILE I TAKE A BITE OF MY LEGENDARY HERO SANDWICH™!” Papyrus said as he went to the burger shop.

“... hey, you two ok?” asked Sans as soon as he walked out of the car with the other two.

“We're fine. We're smiling like you are, right? Weirdo.” said Madsta with a snarl.

“now, now... no need to be _mad_ , madsta.” said Sans with a wink.  


“...” Madsta looked shocked that the skeleton knew who he was.

“oh. surprised? let's just say that i saw you somewhere.” said Sans as he turned to look at something else. “i heard about the news. mettaton's missing and so is your cousin, right?”

“...” Napstablook looked sad to hear this coming from the comedian he admired, but still found it somewhat... comforting, if you could call it that, than to hear it from some random person.

“i asked some questions from the authorities earlier. i told them that i was mettaton's manager so they let me in some information... well, there's nothing yet... but that's how i knew about the details.” said Sans. “what they did tell me though, is that there will be search parties in the cities adjacent to monster city.”

The people that passed by them were listening to the news from their own radios, some of them looked at their phones even; the news was all about Mettaton gone missing. Madsta looked a little angry, but he decided to keep it in for the time being.

“So, is that why you asked for a stopover? To tell us that?” Madsta snapped at him.

“i wanted to... 'apologise' for my brother. he doesn't know the details... i just told him that mettaton's off to have a vacation on his own.” said Sans.

“He probably did... didn't he......” Napstablook finally spoke up.

The three of them were already just in front of the washroom. They just stood a little ways away from it so that they weren't in the way for people who actually needed to use it.

“no he didn't. i know one thing about him, is that he wouldn't shut up about this fella named 'blooky' during his break time. i should know. sometimes i take him to have some snacks with me and... well, when he's drank enough soda he starts talking about this blooky fella.” said Sans. He looked up at the blue robot and reached over to pat his shoulder. “he cares for you, kiddo. more than anyone.”

“So you think you can help us find Mettaton?” Madsta snarled.

“yeah... and your cousin.” Sans added. “once we go back to monster city, we should be able to get more resources. i'll ask uh... dr. alphys to help while you go back to your family for backup. she should know what to do.”

“Wait. Did you say DOCTOR Alphys?” asked the ghost, who now sounded a little calmer.

“yeah, so?”

“... I'd like to meet her too.” said Madsta as he looked up at Napstablook. “I think she can help... big time.”

“... alright.” Sans said as he stretched a little. “so you two going number two or what?”

Napstablook only shook his head. He didn't really feel like doing anything. “Let's go back... we need to find Pinky......”

“ok.” said Sans as he went to the bathroom. “wait for me in the car. i need to go number two.”

The two were left alone as they made their way. Madsta seemed a little angry again and the shy Napstablook took notice of this.

“What's wrong...?”

“Nothing.” said the ghost as they floated away a little faster.

Napstablook figured that this was all because they talked about their missing cousins again. He couldn't blame him... after all, they were on the same boat here. They were all supposed to have a good time together in the hotel and find a new home for the ghosts but... this happened.

“HEY!” Papyrus waved to the two of them. He smiled sweetly as he did.

“Does he ALWAYS talk in caps lock??” Madsta rolled his eyes as he sighed in exasperation. He floated to the backseat again. Napstablook went to the backseat as well and sat quietly.

Papyrus seemed to shuffle something on the passenger's seat and then finally found what he was looking for. “LOOK WHAT I FOUND! HERE, DJ WAVE! YOU REMIND ME OF A QUIET BUNNY... SO I BOUGHT THIS FOR YOU! NEAT, HUH?”

He gave Napstablook a stuffed bunny he had bought from one of the stores.

“Thanks......” he said shyly as he hugged it.

“YOU'RE SO CUTE I COULD JUST EAT YOU UP!” said Papyrus as he looked at Napstablook.

“HEY, PIPE DOWN WILL YA?! CAN YOU NOT TALK IN CAPS LOCK?!” Madsta floated in front of Papyrus' face.

“H-HEY! YOU'RE SPEAKING CAPS LOCK TOO, YOU KNOW! YOU JUST SAID 'CAPS LOCK'!” said Papyrus.

“WISE GUY, EH CAPS LOCK SKELETON?!” said the ghost as he neared his face to Papyrus even more to intimidate him.

“Madsta, you're also speaking in caps lock...” said Napstablook. He frowned a little. “I should know, I'm a robot. My system transcribes what I hear...”

“don't you mean 'caps lock-ton'?” said a familiar voice. It was Sans; he had just come from the washroom and he went on the passenger's seat after clearing it off Papyrus' purchases from various shops. “alright, paps. we're off.”

“OKAY! YOU TWO OKAY THERE?” Papyrus buckled up his seatbelt and wore his sunglasses. Madsta buckled up his own seatbelt and then Napstablook's, since the robot seemed a little distracted by the cuddly bunny plush.

As soon as everyone was ready, Papyrus headed out to drive straight to the city so that they could act upon the disappearances as soon as possible...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wherever could Shysta and Mettaton be?
> 
> Honestly, I'm now rethinking if I made the right choice of making Madsta and Shysta from a different ghost clan... well, guess we'll just have to see eh? Hopefully it works out in the long run.
> 
> Totally listened to so much To the Moon OST while working on this chapter~


	7. Help

###  **Chapter 7: Help**

  


 

They finally arrived in Monster City, right in front of the MTT Hotel.

The MTT Hotel in Monster City was the main branch; as it is also the studio where Mettaton works and lives in. Given that... so many people were crowding by the entrance. It seems that newscasters have arrived to try and get the latest scoop about Mettaton's disappearance... they were all interviewing various hotel attendants; even Mettaton's janitor was getting interviewed.

“He would always tell me to use my face if something bad happens... it works everytime. I wonder where he is...” said the hotel chef.

“He would always ask how my day is doing... he's a good person. He's just very busy trying to maintain his ratings and his hotels.” said a hotel attendant.

“Even though he has that more well-rounded form, he doesn't look down at me for being polygonal. He's more down-to-earth than most people think.” said another hotel attendant.

“Mettaton? Yeah, he's not really an awesome guy. He's terrible.” a familiar-sounding voice was heard not too far from where they were.

“PFFT.” said Papyrus with a smirk. “DON'T THEY KNOW HE'S JUST ON A VACATION?”

“I'm getting real sick of your sh-” Madsta stopped when he saw Sans glare at him when he tried to pick on Papyrus again.

“listen, ghostie.” said Sans. “i'd watch my mouth if i were you. they say that if you're a potty-mouth, someday your mouth will fly away from you and you can never speak again. ever.”

“REALLY?? WOW. GLAD I'M NOT A POTTY-MOUTH!” said Papyrus with a smile.

“ever.” Sans said with an intimidating glare in his eye. Madsta knew exactly what he meant, so he just kept quiet. He felt that Sans knew his ways and that he wasn't just talking out of nothing.

Napstablook does seem to sympathise with Madsta, though. “Why don't you take us to... to Mettaton's secret shortcut? Then maybe you two can go to Doctor for now, so you can ask her what's going on. She doesn't seem to be there... and I'd hate to see his employee get fired.”

Napstablook looked slightly angry. One can see it in his eyes.

“sure kiddo. you heard him, pap.” said Sans as he nudged Papyrus' elbow gently. “you know the secret shortcut, right?”

“SURE! METTA POINTED IT TO ME ONCE BEFORE!” Papyrus said as he started the engine and they drove off to the alley where Madsta lived.

Madsta looked... sad, during the trip. They didn't seem to talk to anybody at all; they just looked outside of their window quietly, as if losing all hope from everything that's happened. Napstablook wasn't the one for words, so he just kept quiet and looked out the opposite window sill.

“hey, kiddo. everything's alright.” Sans looked back at Napstablook so that only the two of them can hear each other. Papyrus was too distracted with driving happily. Sans looked sympathetic. “what happened before he went missing with madsta's cousin there?”

“Well.... he acted strange. Very strange. He would be left in a trance all of a sudden, he wouldn't talk to me... he wouldn't even want to look at me. He seemed to look tired...” Napstablook told Sans as he felt like he could trust him on this. “We thought it was a battery discharge problem then... the next day, Madsta came to me saying their cousin was missing. Then that's when I saw that... Pinky was missing too.... oh no...... oh....”

Napstablook was beginning to cry again. He bared his hands from his long baggy sleeves so that he can wipe his tears with his hands instead.

“it's ok, kid.” said Sans reassuringly. “that's good info. i'm sure alphys and i can make something of it. here's my number. just call me when you need me, okay?”

“Y-Yeah... thanks, Sans...” said Napstablook with tears in his eyes.

“we're here. keep me updated, okay?” said Sans as the car stopped in front of the alley where the ghosts lived. Madsta went ahead of Napstablook to go to their cousins, whereas Napstablook took his time to wave goodbye to the brothers to express his gratitude.

Napstablook walked right in the alley to catch up with Madsta. When he came there, he saw Madsta flying about the alley. They seemed to be... panicked.

“Joysta? Sadsta? Disgusta? WHERE ARE YOU?!” they flew about in a panic as they looked in the garbage dumps and the littered cardboard boxes. “Fearsta... where is everyone?! DUMMIES?!”

Madsta looked... mad. He flew around hopelessly as he tried to find other ghosts. Napstablook felt... scared, dumbfounded; he didn't know what to feel about it. He couldn't seem to believe that the ghosts were nowhere to be found, and so he tried to look for them as well. But... he found nothing. No sign of ghosts anywhere at all.

His companion didn't look like he wanted to give up anytime soon, though. They started to sound hysterical as they began to flip through all the cardboard boxes and lifeless,spiritless dummies. Napstablook did not know whether he should feel sad for them or scared of them... though he did try to keep his distance and he shrunk in a safe corner as the ghost continued on their rampage.

“SHYSTA!! I know you're hiding around here! This is all a trick, isn't it?? You and that pink robot are just kidding around!” Madsta began to laugh. “And then you'll come out of here laughing your butts off because me and the blue robot totally fell for it! Right? RIGHT?! Foolish. Foolish. FOOLISH!!”

Madsta began thrashing everything about. In his anger, they went inside their dummy body and started to hop around mad in more ways than one. They began laughing. “You're funny, Shysta! Now come on out!”

“M-Madsta, please calm down.....” Napstablook said from his hiding spot.

“And I bet you're into this too, huh? And so are the other ghosts... HAHAHAHAHA!” said Madsta as they began to hop their way to Napstablook. “Well, you're not getting the last laugh...”

“No, Madsta... p-please get away!” cried Napstablook. He backed away frantically as he looked at his crazed companion in fear.

“CUT THE JOKES, IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!!” screamed Madsta as they floated in mid air and started to charge for the frightened Blooky.

A dummy went in front of Napstablook and struck Madsta away and roughly onto the ground. Madsta's body fell apart, and so was his ghost body knocked out like before. The dummy faced Napstablook before it fell limp and a ghost emerged from it.

“Nappy... do you remember me?” said the ghost.

“... Wait......” Napstablook's eyes widened. “Spaceblook?”

  


“Please... it's Mai, remember? You're too formal, Nappy... well I guess it's because we haven't met for so long.” Mai giggled. They growled when they looked at the groggy Madsta on the ground. “You are pathetic.”

“Ngh...” Madsta groaned as they looked at the two from the near distance.

“That's right, you pathetic little worm. You love using everyone for your own gain.” said the ghost who called themself Mai and then slowly floated to them. “You pathetic little spirit. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost. You were right. You didn't need us. You didn't need anyone. You HAD knives, and you used it all up. Then Nappy here cried all over you and drove you away. I bet you don't even know who I am, do you?”

“...” Madsta groggily floated and then shook their head to get their vision straight. “I don't believe I do. You don't look like you belong in this clan.”

“Of course I don't, but I sneaked in as one of your dummies anyway and you never realised. All you ever did was shout at us and order us around. And you expected so much from us? Get real.” said Mai as they floated forward. “I'm Nappy's and Franny's cousin.”

“Pinky doesn't like that Franny nickname...” Napstablook giggled and tried to lessen the tension. “Um.......”

“And you were planning to attack Nappy here?! All because you thought this was all a joke?! What kind of a sick joke would this be?! Franny wouldn't stand up for it, Nappy is heartbroken... and you think that this is all a joke?” Mai growled at Madsta. “You know... I saw everything. I was about to be taken too, but I managed to get away before... before I disappeared.”

“...” Napstablook and Madsta froze where they stood. The robot decided to take a step forward. “What do you mean... disappeared? What happened...?”

“I don't know...” said Mai, looking a little sad and scared at the same time. “But earlier today I was hanging around with the Spooks as I usually do, ever since I took a dummy of my own. Then... I don't know, everybody started screaming and they seemed to be taken away by something... or someone. They all suddenly disappeared... I didn't disappear because I clung onto my body tightly. All the others... they weren't too attached to their own bodies.”

Napstablook remembered that they misunderstood Madsta's orders the day before. “They left their bodies back then because they thought Madsta wanted them to... m-maybe that's why their hold was weakened...”

“So there's nothing here. Nappy, you'd better go on ahead if you want to find Franny. His disappearance is all over the news.” said Mai. They gave Napstablook their phone number. “I'll be in my house if you need me, okay? I don't want to cause any more trouble. Just call me if you need me.”

“Okay...... thanks for filling us in...” Napstablook nodded. “And please stay safe.....”

“Sure thing. I'll be in this dummy body for a while so they can't get me. Stay safe, you two.” said Mai as they went inside their dummy body once more and then hopped away from them.

“...” Madsta sighed. “So they mysteriously disappeared... all of a sudden.”

“And no clues or hints...” said Napstablook as he sounded hopeless.

“Hey, we'll find them.” said Madsta as he sounded a little kinder. “We just need to think this over. They suddenly disappeared, but their bodies were left here. Your cousin... he disappeared without a trace, with no body left. That means he's still corporeal, right?”

“Yeah......” Napstablook looked sad. “He's already attached to his body. It's been long since he had it and well... he loves it so much. I'm not sure if he can come out of that body since he's gotten corporeal since our life in the Underground...”

“Say, can you still come out of that body?” asked Madsta.

“I... I guess so...... I mean I haven't tried it yet, I- OH!” Napstablook squeaked as soon as Madsta reached from inside his chest and pulled out the ghost from inside. “I-I.... I guess I'm not fully corporeal after all..... hahaha.... haha..... awkward.......”

Napstablook floated from outside his body for a while and examined it. “Doctor did a great job on my body...... it's still not fully complete.... m-maybe that's why I'm still not fully corporeal.....”

“Maybe.” said Madsta as he stared down at it, then turned to the ghost. “So that's what you really look like, eh?”

“.......” Napstablook looked at him awkwardly. “Y-Yeah..... now um..... I have to go back......”

The melancholic ghost went back in his own robot body and it soon started up and running again.

“Who's this doctor everyone keeps on talking about? Doctor... Alpine, was it?” asked Madsta.

“It's Dr. Alphys... she's really nice..... she made this body for me, as well as Pi- Mettaton's. I need a few more check ups til my body's complete.” said Napstablook with a nod. “She made this much progress in a week... you wouldn't believe how hard she worked on it!”

“Cool. Can I go meet this Dr. Alphys?” said Madsta. “I'd like to see her.”

Napstablook nodded and then called Sans. He didn't turn the speaker on and so he looked like he was talking to himself, when in fact he could hear Sans talking in his system. After the call was over, he looked at his companion. “They're coming to pick us up.”

In a few minutes, Sans and his brother Papyrus arrived with the same car that dropped them off earlier.

“so... what happened?” asked Sans.

Madsta looked disappointed and just quietly hovered to the backseat of the car. Napstablook went to the backseat as well and then sighed. He started to explain the situation on the way to Alphys' lab.

“I BET THEY'RE ALL HAVING A GREAT VACATION! DON'T WORRY, RED GHOSTIE!” said Papyrus as he looked at the rear view mirror.

Madsta growled about something like Papyrus being too dumb to live and then just turned away before he could actually say something out loud. He was intimidated by Sans earlier when he got told off.

“Eheh.... yeah....” Napstablook just decided to go with the flow.

Sans saw the reaction of the two though, so he tried to distract Papyrus a little. “yeah. i guess we should just... ride along with whatever we're doing and let them have fun, right?”

“SANS!!” Papyrus reacted.

Madsta scoffed a little at this reaction as they felt a little grateful of Sans' way to lighten up things. They were still disappointed, though.

Not long after, they had arrived in front of Alphys' lab and parked just outside of it. They all got off and went inside of it, where they met Alphys looking at a huge monitor with many windows and radars open. There was a wide panel just in front of it that seemed to manipulate whatever functions appeared on the giant screen. She seemed to be deeply analysing it when they came in.

Sans told Papyrus to go to the other room and cook spaghetti for all of them since they were going to stay a while. Undyne was just in the other room anyway, trying to find something to eat. It should keep him busy while they talked about the actual details of the conflict.

“So that yellow lizard is the doctor?” asked Madsta in a somewhat sarcastic tone, to which Napstablook only glared at him. They shrunk a little at this.

“hey alphys.” said Sans as he tapped her shoulder.

“Oh, you're here!” said Alphys. “And... I see you brought in company? Hey, Napstablook! How's your new body?”

“It's great, Doctor...... really great. Pinky loves it.” Napstablook smiled at her. “Doctor.... my friend here wants to meet you.”

Madsta floated forward and then nodded at Alphys and reached out their stubby little ghostly hand for a handshake. Alphys obliged and smiled at them.

“Name's Spook. Madstaspook.” said Madsta with a nod. “I've heard many things about you, Dr. Alphys. They couldn't stop talking about you, and so I figured I just had to meet you.”

“Oh.” Alphys blushed and then smiled awkwardly. She looked at the skeleton brothers and the robot. “Hehehe... really? W-Well... I'm flattered! Yeah... uh...”

“Doctor... surely you have heard about the disappearances, right?”

“... Yes. That's what I have been looking into when you came in here.” said Alphys as she sounded a little more serious. She turned back to the giant monitor and started to stare into it. “I don't get it... I can't get any signal from Mettaton anywhere. It's impossible; only he or I can toggle his GPS, unless...”

Napstablook began to cry. “Unless his body isn't there anymore..... unless he's.... he's...”

Madsta looked worried and then they went over to the crying robot to comfort him. “OW! Owwww I forgot your tears were acid...”

“I doubt it.” said Alphys as she typed into her keyboard on the wide panel. “If he were... then... I-I just know he's still alive because he never gives up! We just need to look for alternatives... we have to race against time here.”

“Yes...” said Napstablook as he wiped his tears off with his hands while he took care not to stain his sweater.

“Doctor... maybe I can help.” said Madsta. They sighed and then cleared their throat. “I would like to have a body, please.”

“W-What?” Alphys looked surprised, and so did everyone but Sans. Napstablook half-expected this, but he was still surprised to hear it from the ghost themself.

“You heard me, I want to have that robot body. Maybe then... maybe then, I can make myself useful for once and I can save Shysta and... Pinky?” Madsta seemed unsure of Mettaton's name.

“It's Mettaton. Only I call him Pinky.” said Napstablook a little defensively.

“Chill.” said Madsta. “Napstablook needs an extra hand if we want to save Shysta, Mettaton, and the rest of my clan... and I can't do sh- I mean, I can't do anything in this body, so...”

“But... but building you a body from scratch will take weeks. I'm not sure if you can wait that long.” said Alphys sadly. She tried to think of something like a workaround to the present conflict.

“There must be something we could do to speed up the process!” Madsta sounded desperate. “Please, Doctor!”

Sans looked rather surprised with how Madsta had been acting. They weren't acting like their rude self at all; actually, they sounded polite and collected. He snickered a little under his breath and told himself that adrenaline actually makes this mad ghost kinder.

“Well... I'm not sure if you will be fine with this aesthetic-wise...” said Alphys as she looked a little sheepish. “Come with me. I have something to show you.”

Alphys went ahead into another room not too far from the giant monitor. Madsta followed her, and so did Napstablook. Sans stayed behind to look at the monitor and made sure that Papyrus didn't see anything that may let him know about Mettaton's disappearance... it would be too sad and worrisome for him.

“What...” Madsta exclaimed as they seemed to look up at something.

“Yeah... hehehe... I'm not sure if you'd like it. I worked on it as an experiment to perfect my crafts of designing a vessel that could contain souls.” Alphys seemed to blush.

“It looks good.... in my opinion...” said Napstablook as he also looked up.

They looked at a robotic body that was not entirely done yet. It lacked limbs, but the torso itself looked almost complete. It had a head with complete features as well. The body looked like it was that of a young man's, a little more mature-looking than Mettaton's... but it definitely looked like it had quite a pretty face with a somewhat spunky hairstyle.

“Uh... not exactly my tastes, but I'll go along with it I guess.” Madsta scratched their head with their stubby little ghost hand. They were desperate, and beggars don't choose what they are given so... “So what can we do to help you finish this body faster?”

“Finishing this body will need a week or less... all I really need right now is time. I have all the resources...” Alphys tried to think up of something. “I think it's best you stay here so that you could personally test it out while I'm working on it. You know, just to make sure it's functional and comfortable for you?”

“Okay.” Madsta nodded. They looked up at the body again, as if with a longing desire to get it finished as soon as possible so that they can finally start searching for their lost cousins...

“i'll help.”

All three of them looked back at the room entrance where the voice came from. It was none other than Sans who had walked in. He looked as relaxed as ever as he cracked his neck bone when he stretched it. He looked at all of them and grinned a little more widely.

“what? surprised that i'm finally taking some responsibility?” said Sans. “yeah i'll help. you work on the arms and i work on the legs.”

“A-Alright... that sounds good!” said Alphys as she stuttered a little by Sans' sudden offer of help. “So in the meantime, you two can stay in the guest room upstairs!”

“we should be done in a day or two.” said Sans as he cracked his knuckles and then looked up at the body. “any particular features you'd like us to work on?”

“Don't make it too pretty.” said Madsta as they looked a little disapproving of the face. “And I love weapons. You think you can work with that?”

“weapons huh? okay.” said Sans. He looked up at the body again and then he went over to the tools at the other side of the room. “you two go ahead and rest. you must be tired.”

“Will you two be okay?” Napstablook asked worriedly as he looked at Sans and Alphys. He seemed to not like the idea of an all-nighter, as it was already getting dark outside.

“yeah we'll be fine. don't worry about it too much.” Sans winked. “you two get all the rest you'll need because when we're done with this... you'll be needing all the energy to look for your cousins.”

The robot nodded at this and then smiled at them, as if to thank them for all their efforts. He and Madsta went out of the room and went to the escalator so that they can go to the next floor.

***

The second floor had a corridor in it. There were different rooms from each side; from one side were some more labs, and from the other side were about four bedrooms. They decided to take one that didn't seem occupied and saw that there was only one bed...

“...” they felt awkward as they went inside the room.

“I swear that doctor is doing this on purpose.” said Madsta as they looked around the room.

“Oh......” Napstablook blushed a little as he sat on the bed and looked around as well from where he was.

The room was somewhat spacious; it looked futuristic like the rest of Alphys' lab and had basic necessities such as a closet, a dresser, and a bathroom. The windows had blinds they could peek through should they need to look outside for whatever reason. The floor was glossy and the entire room was air-conditioned; it doesn't give much of a homey feel like a hotel, but it was comfortable enough.

Napstablook yawned and decided to lay down on the soft, cushy bed. He looked up as he did so and started to dream about finding Mettaton safe and sound as soon as possible...

Madsta went on top of the bed as well and looked up the ceiling like the robot did.

There was an awkward silence between them.

“So uh... so we're sleeping together, huh?” said Madsta even though they knew it was awkward and possibly won't do any good.

“...... I guess....” Napstablook looked embarrassed and then he turned his face away.

“Since we're gonna do this for a couple of days, uh... no. You know what? You need the bed more.” said Madsta as they floated away and grabbed some sheets and a pillow from the next room then came back. “I'm used to sleeping on the ground, anyway. This is a real treat.”

Madsta chuckled but Napstablook looked back at them as he laid down on his side to see them. “Really?”

“Really what?” said Madsta as they lied down on the pillow. They were a perfect fit.

“Really... uh..... that... you're used to sleeping on the ground?”

“Yeah, but don't feel bad about it. We all did.” said Madsta. “Some slept in cardboard boxes, some on the ground, some in trash cans... heh, they were comfortable! It won't be comfy for rich folk, but they are to us. It's just getting used to it that's all.”

“...” Napstablook looked sad and he began to cry uncontrollably.

“H-Hey! Don't cry! ARGH!” Madsta got up from their pillow and floated to his face.

“I... can't... stop......” cried Napstablook as he just stared at them with tears. He didn't move or sob much, but his face looked sad and the tears couldn't stop flowing.

Madsta sighed and tried their best to smile. “We're ghosts. We don't have physical body so we're fine with it. People with physical bodies... well, I think they'd have a harder time.”

“Still...” said Napstablook hugged his pillow. “Pinky and I had houses and you... all of you... you were in the garbage dump even when we were underground.....”

“Hey, that's not your fault.” said Madsta. “That's why some of us were desperate to have a body. Some of us did have homes, but some of us didn't. It was nobody's fault, but we all aspired to have bodies to live and love like everyone else... heh. Guess that's why I want to have my own body.”

“Yeah.....?”

“So I could protect Shysta more. Well... when we get them back, that is. I feel like such a failure to them...”

“You're not a failure.......”

Blooky opened his arms. Madsta looked surprised, but they slowly and somewhat reluctantly went to the robot's arms. The robot hugged the ghost and patted their back gently.

“You're not a failure..... you're not..... we all make mistakes but.... we're not always failures....”

“...” Madsta didn't want to admit it, but they felt safe in Napstablook's arms and soon fell asleep ahead of the robot.

Napstablook only smiled at this and then he fell asleep as well after a few minutes.

***

The next thing they knew, it was already morning. Napstablook seemed to be sound asleep as he was still hugging Madsta close to his chest, but Madsta was already awake. Not wanting to disturb him, they phased through the robot's arms and floated away. They smiled at the sight of Napstablook having a good rest and then they decided to come downstairs to check up on Sans and Alphys.

...

When they got downstairs, they saw that Sans was asleep on robotic legs. They actually looked like they were almost done, while Alphys was barely awake with the robotic arms in her hands. She looked haggard... very haggard.

Some fish woman along with Papyrus came inside the same room. They each held a plate of spaghetti, while they sang a catchy spaghetti song.

“Cold spaghetti, cold spaghettiiiii! Cold spaghetti, cold spaghettiiiii!” she danced around silly with the skeleton as they came inside and then laid the plates on a nearby table. “Eat up, Alphys!”

“Hey, Undyne...” Alphys smiled when she came inside the room. It looked like she was relieved from stress upon seeing the fish woman, though they looked very tired.

“Hey, don't you be working too hard on that! I mean, yeah work hard on it... but you don't have to compromise your health okay?!” said Undyne as she looked a little worried, but still tough.

“Y-Yeah but... we have to finish this body so we can have a greater chance of saving Mettaton...” said Alphys and then she yawned and resumed her work. She couldn't stop eyeing the spaghetti though.

“Come on, Alphysss. You know you want the spaghetti!” Undyne said as held the plate in front of Alphys' face, as if to tease her.

“NOBODY CAN RESIST THE ALLURE OF THE UNPYRUS CUISINE!” said Papyrus as he shoved some spaghetti in his sleeping brother's mouth. “NOT EVEN WHEN YOU'RE ASLEEP!”

“Uh. What?” Madsta said as he looked around. He tried not to butt in their fun, anyway. “Wow... my body's almost complete. That's... fast. I didn't think you would work on it this fast.”

“Yeah, everything's almost done.” said Alphys while she ate the spaghetti. She smiled and liked her breakfast. “Later on, we'll just be attaching them and we'll add aesthetic designs like the colours and then we're done! Well... hopefully.”

“What do you mean?” asked Madsta.

“We will still need to test the body out. Hopefully by tomorrow we'll be done with it; we just need to know if it's safe enough for you to phase in... robot bodies are a little riskier than dummies because they can malfunction. Whereas you gain full control in dummies, robot bodies require you to coordinate with the system. Do you think you can handle that?”

“Anything for Shysta.” said Madsta.

Alphys smiled at this. “Sans and I won't stop until we get this right. So you and Napstablook just take it easy, okay? Everything will be alright.”

Madsta smiled at this and then looked at the body. “Just wait for me, Shysta... we'll save you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna have to draw Mai one of these days. I wonder if anybody gets their name...? Hehe.  
> Hopefully Madsta's not too out of character here... after all, in the pacifist end (where this is the aftermath), the Mad Dummy seems to have calmed down and humbled a little as seen in the epilogue. There will be explanations later on, don't worry!
> 
> Oh and... anybody know that COLD SPAGHETTI COLD SPAGHETTI thing? It's Pap's theme song.


	8. Ghosts' Day Out?

###  **Chapter 8: Ghosts' Day Out?**

  


“we'll finish this by today or tomorrow. why don't you two chill out for a while?”

Sans talked to the robot and the ghost as he tested the movement of the legs. They seemed to be functional, but they stumbled every now and then, much to Sans' slight dismay.

“i knew i had to work on that balance.” said Sans as he scratched his head.

“It looks good so far, though.” said Madsta as they flew around the legs and examined it closely. “Man, I'm gonna have some sexy legs.”

Napstablook giggled at this as he looked at the legs as well. “Well... Doctor DOES design some pretty great legs.”

“Yeah, your legs look GREAT.” said Madsta as they floated around Napstablook and stared at his legs; much to the discomfort of the latter. “Oops. Sorry.”

Madsta awkwardly turned away and then just stayed by Napstablook's side. They stared at Alphys working on the arms and the torso; it looked like she was trying to finalise their functions and make sure that the circuits didn't get wired up or tangled.

“we'll call you when your body's ready.” Sans winked at them and then tried to work on the legs again. “in the meantime, go have fun. maybe go to a movie or sleep all day?”

“Eh, alright. Maybe we'll go back to my home to check for any clues.” said Madsta.

Napstablook nodded at this. “Yeah... good idea.”  


The two decided to head out while the experts worked on Madsta's future body. The music lover noticed the look on the ghost's face; while their eyes still looked sad, they actually looked happy at the same time. Excited, even. It looked like they can't wait to finally have their new body. They walked away from the lab and eventually made it to the park just a few blocks away.

***

 

The park looked serene; there were ornamental trees everywhere like cherry blossom trees that were in bloom. The birds hopped about the park pavement as they tried to peck for some crumbs and seeds that were blown by the cool wind. The sun occasionally played hide and seek with the fluffy clouds as they walked around. They eventually made it to the area with a lake manually made by monster workers with hard labour; boats for rent were rowing and paddling about of all shapes and sizes. It was one of the main attractions for the tourists and they can choose to paddle the boat on their own or have someone paddle it for them as they went around the lake.

The lake was leveled so that it was lower from the rest of the park. Because of this levelling, the monsters can watch them from nearby as they walked around the park. There were park benches around the lake so that they can get a better view. Usually, those that sat on the benches were either lovers, friends, or maybe artists that wanted to capture the beauty of the park.

“We should have asked that tall skeleton to drive us back to my home.” said Madsta. They sat on the bench with the blue robot. “Ah well... it's not that far anyway, is it? I guess we can just take the bus.”

“Yeah...” said Napstablook. “Heh... look at that boat that looks like a duck! What do you call those again...”

“Oh, you mean that bicycle paddle boat thing?” Madsta said. “I don't know what they're called either.”

“Yeah... hehe.” Napstablook smiled as he watched the boats drift by the water.

“We never got to ride in one of those.” said Madsta. He noticed that there was someone selling Nice Cream just around the corner and so they floated away for a while to come back with two Nice Cream cones. They gave the vanilla one to Blooky while they ate the chocolate one.

“Oh... how did you......?” Napstablook's cheeks glowed slightly as he looked at his ice cream. “I love vanilla...”

“Eh? Well I just took a guess. You looked like a vanilla kind of person.” Madsta said as he licked his own ice cream and looked up at the robot.

“I didn't know you liked chocolate...” Napstablook smiled and then licked his own ice cream while watching the boats again. “Pinky liked strawberry nice cream. Sometimes he would request for strawberry bits in his nice cream... I like it too, but I like vanilla better.”

“Really? Heh. Well, Shysta liked mint... but it's a pretty rare flavour, so they ordered either vanilla or green tea.” Madsta smiled and then continued licking his nice cream. He made a little mess such that he had a chocolate nice cream moustache, but he didn't notice. Napstablook noticed though, and he began to giggle. “What?”

Napstablook grabbed some tissue that the Nice Cream man gave them and then wiped Madsta's mouth with it gently. The ghost was a little surprised. They seemed to turn redder and they looked flustered.

“You were messy! Hahaha...” Napstablook smiled at them. “So... Shysta and I have some similar tastes, huh?”

“Uh...” Madsta stared up at him and blushed hard before they shook their head. “Y-Yeah... actually, you kinda remind me of them. You're both so... quiet. Though I think they're a little older than you?”

“I see... well, you kinda remind me of Pinky too. Well... kinda.” Napstablook giggled and then looked at the boats in the distance again. “He can get pretty hot-tempered... but he's all nice on the inside. You know... there was this one time that we rented a boat there before I got this body. The boatman looked at me suspiciously... as if he was about to eat me..... then he looked at me.... then I looked at him.... then he looked at me.... then I looked at him.... then he looked at me.... then I looked at him...... and when I said 'um...', he neighed and panicked. Pinky got mad at him for reacting that way since we almost fell in the lake.”

“... Wow.” Madsta raised a brow at this. “If you did fall in, then you could just float, right?”

“Yes, but Pinky can't swim... or at least, I haven't seen him without a life vest in the swimming pool... Doctor still needs to add in some support for his body to be able to float on the water.” Napstablook sighed. “So the next time we rented a boat there, we didn't ask anyone. I already had my body by then so we ordered that paddle boat thing... you know, those ones you have to pedal like a bicycle?”

“Ooooooh... those look fun, actually. I never tried them.” said Madsta.

“They look fun, but they aren't too fun to use at all...... Pinky and I paddled so much and we were still getting nowhere! He was beginning to overheat so I panicked...” said Napstablook. “We were in the middle of the lake, you see. We stopped because he couldn't take it anymore...... thankfully, other boatmen came to our aid and brought him to one of those longer boats for him to rest on. Gosh.....”

“Wow. Your cousin sounds... interesting. Not even sarcastic here.” laughed Madsta. “If we had met in better circumstances, we would have gotten along better.”

“Yeah.... well, maybe when we get them back......” said Napstablook. He nibbled on his nice cream and then he was disappointed to see that there was nothing left but the cone. “This is what I don't like about nice cream cones... you eat them until you get left with only the cone...”

“Just do what I do when I eat Nice Cream. Push it down to the bottom of the cone as you eat along. That way you'll still get some flavour.” said Madsta as they pushed the nice cream down to the bottom of the cone while they ate it.

“Hmm.... I'll have to try that......” the robot giggled. “You and Shysta seem really close...”

“Ohhh yeah, we're pretty close. In fact, we're close enough for them to talk to me about their secrets.” said Madsta as he bit on his cone.

“Like.....?”

“Heeey why should I tell you? It's a secret. Anyway yeah, usually when they get mad at someone, they just stay quiet and ignore them. But when they're mad with me, they don't hide it at all and they... well, nag me a little. They're not really talkative to anyone else.” said Madsta with a shrug. “I guess that's why they didn't get to talk when ambassador tried to back then.”

“Oh.......”

“Sometimes when I get angry, they get mad over it.” Madsta laughed a little as he remembered something. “Do you ever wonder why dummies don't have arms? Like, the dummies we use?”

“I thought they were just your aesthetics...” Napstablook guessed.

Madsta laughed at this and had to catch his breath a little before he continued. “We wish it were, but no. They lost all their arms because of me. And Shysta. You see, when I get mad, I tend to forget things. And when that happens and I forget something about them... they get mad and start throwing dummy arms at me.”

“Oh my......” the robot didn't know how to react to this as they just gave a nervous smile.

“Yeaaaaah. Like that time when I was fighting the ambassador? I didn't know they were there watching the fight. I forgot why I was fighting. I fought ambassador because they scared my cousin away... but then I got carried away and dreamed to cross the barrier and stuff. I forgot that I was fighting for Shysta... I forgot their name, even!” Madsta laughed nervously. “When the fight was over, Shysta met up with me and started throwing arms at me. Man...”

“Wow... well, you... kinda deserved it...... awkward...” said the robot with an awkward smile.

“Yeah, I did, didn't I?” Madsta laughed. “Come to think of it, it was because of you that the fight ended. I felt your acid tears...”

“Huh? Wait..... that was you...? I thought you were Frisk's friend...” said Napstablook with a slight surprise in his tone. “Wow.....”

“Heh, I guess it's fate?” Madsta smiled. “And now we're here.”

“On the search of our cousins...” said Napstablook.

Madsta sighed and then just stared at the birds on the ground. They didn't realise they put their stubby little hand on Napstablook's. They blushed as they realised this, and so did the shy robot.

“S-Sorry.” said Madsta with a mad blush and then they floated from the bench. “W-Well! Let's get going, yeah? The bus station isn't too far away from here.”

“Yeah....” said Napstablook as he stood up. “Let's go.”

They walked through the park to get to the bus station just waiting outside of it...

***

They finally took the bus; and not long after, they dropped to the other bus station just near where the Spook clan resided. The two walked through the dead alley once more and looked around them.

The place actually looked eerily sad; when Mettaton and Napstablook first passed through it together, it was eerily quiet but was full of ghosts and spirits... now it was devoid of anything and anyone, including the Spook clan. Madsta looked sad as he floated around and looked at the empty dummies that were once inhabited by his cousins.

Napstablook knelt down and looked at the dummies closer as well. He looked sadly at them and examined one after gently picking it up.

“A cotton heart and a button eye, you are the apple of my eye.”

Napstablook raised his head to see Madsta who had just spoken the short poem.

“That's what Shysta said when they first saw their body... til well, they flew away from it because of their fear of the ambassador. They were too shy that they got scared the ambassador was staring straight into them.” said Madsta and then they sighed. “Take care handling that. That was their last body before... everything happened.”

“Oh.......” Napstablook looked down at the dummy in his hands sadly and then gently let it back down on the ground. He seemed a little sad to see the dummy lifeless and devoid of Shysta.

“No other ghosts... find anything relevant, Napsta?” asked Madsta as he floated high up to look at the high walls for any traces or clues.

“Nothing yet...” said Napstablook as he looked around. He closed his eyes and activated his scanning mode for anything suspicious enough to be related to the disappearances.

When he scanned the place, objects stood out from the background and he can finally see through them. It felt strange, honestly; he hadn't used the function much save for a few times when he would look for his missing chocolate bar or to try cheating on Mettaton when playing hide and seek or treasure hunt. Mettaton always reacted so that he lost interest playing with him, but they'd be alright in the end.

Mettaton can never stay mad with Napstablook.

Through his scanning vision, he found more hidden dummies. Presumably they had fled to hiding spots to try and escape whatever had been causing them to disappear. It was unclear if they had all died or if they had been kidnapped, though the two always wanted to lean more to the latter option.

“You know... I'm not sure if they're kidnapped or... or gone. For good.” said Madsta as they floated back down in front of the scanning robot. The robot looked down at them with eyes that reflected working codes and scripts running through them. “Whether they're gone for good or not... I want justice for them. This just isn't fair, I mean... hardly anybody really knows our existence.”

Napstablook stared at him with the same gaze. It almost creeped Madsta out, but they tried their best not to react.

“And now they want to wipe us out?? ... It's not right. Humans are scarce in this city so... why on earth would anyone, probably a monster, want to take us out?” asked Madsta in futility and pain.

“Madsta...” Napstablook knelt down to comfort the ghost. “We're not sure if it really is a monster or a human... but whatever they are, we'll find them out and we'll make sure that our cousins come back to us safely, okay?”

“Yeah...” Madsta wiped a tear from their eyes. “I know we will. I'm just worried for Shysta... I can't leave them alone for too long. I feel the need to protect them... you know?”

“Heh... I know...” Napstablook smiled at them and patted their head. “Mettaton's always worried about my safety. There were times he pushed the paparazzis away rudely if they came too close to me. Needless to say... some of them were a little... malicious.”

“Guess you're too cute for them, huh?” said Madsta, then blushed upon realising what they had just said. “I MEAN... who doesn't see you as cute?? You're a crybaby sure, but I bet you everyone thinks you're cute.”

“...” Napstablook's cheeks lit up brightly as he looked flustered. “Thanks... hehe... I'm a cute crybaby, huh?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Napstablook suddenly looked like he stared into Madsta's soul; his eyes looked somewhat creepy in a way that it was intimidating... the ghost looked a little scared that they didn't dare move even if they wanted to. The robot just rose from their kneeling position and ran quickly to a direction away from their companion.

“H-HEY!” Madsta called out and then flew as fast as they could after the robot.

The robot stopped abruptly which made Madsta stumble onto him... if they weren't a ghost. So instead of stumbling, the ghost phased through them until they stopped their momentum from flying too fast. Madsta looked back at Napstablook who was now staring down at the ground.

“What happened?! What's wrong?!” Madsta asked with plain confusion. They looked down at the ground where the robot was staring down at.

They looked shocked; almost horrified, to see what was on the ground. They had flashbacks of the last night with Shysta... when they answered the door, nobody was there, but they did see a trail of black substance that they never could find out what it was made of. That was when Shysta flew away from them and they weren't able to find them.

Now what was before them was a very similar black substance; they weren't too sure but they did look the same. In plain daylight, they concluded it looked like a very thin liquid. They went closer and tried to smell it, but they soon retracted as they didn't like the smell.

Napstablook knelt down and took his gloves off. With his finger, he began absorbing some sample of it; he opened his other palm and some sort of a panel revealed itself on it. He dropped the liquid in the panel of his other palm and he began to bleep like an actual machine.

“Now analyzing... unknown substance... analyzing... 10%...” said Napstablook in a formal tone as his eyes reflected more codes and scripts. “Analyzing...”

Madsta stared up at him and decided not to bother him; he looked as if he was in a trance. They did look around though for anything that may have caused the liquid. It wasn't a trail this time... or if it was, it may have been washed away by something... or someone, so nobody could follow it.

“Analysing... 20%... 30%...” Napstablook spoke again every other moment. “50%... 70...%... 80...”

“...” Madsta noticed the discrepancy in his speech. They looked a little wary as well as apprehensive of what may have been causing it. They tried to dismiss it as a RAM deficiency and just continued to float around the robot to protect him in case something happened.

The atmosphere felt heavier all of a sudden.

They didn't like it.

“90... p-percent... ninety... five... per... cent... ninety... nine... per... cent...” said Napstablook in an even slower, choppier voice. “ERROR.”

Madsta looked alarmed as they looked at the robot.

“ERROR. ERROR.”

Madsta flew around him in a panic as they tried to figure out what to do. Napstablook's eyes looked even scarier in their point of view... the codes and scripts were going crazy in all directions! Until all that showed in his eyes were the word “error”. The ghost tried to look for anything that could help... they checked on their torso, their back... their face, their nape...

Madsta found the emergency button hidden in Napstablook's nape. It was covered by a panel so that it wasn't exposed.

“ERROR-...”

Napstablook seemed to have stopped repeating the word and then he hung his head low, as if he just lost consciousness. Madsta looked even more worried that they may have done something to harm them. They slowly floated in front of the robot and put their stubby ghostly hands on his cheeks to try lifting his face.

“Napsta? NAPSTA!! Napsta, wake up!” cried Madsta in a serious panic. They tried to nudge their shoulders to try waking them up, but Napstablook stayed unconscious. “Come on... Napsta...”

Napstablook's eyes opened wide.

Madsta noticed this and was too shocked that they let go of the robot. They saw his eyes... they were crimson red. They looked like they were locking in on something... and in this case, they stared blankly into the ghost's soul.

“Locking on...” said Napstablook in an emotionlessly low tone. “... Target locked on. Capture target.”

The target was none other than themself. Napstablook had his gaze fixed on Madsta no matter where they floated, and so all that the ghost could do was fly away as fast as he could from the mad robot. The robot began to play some loud music that almost incapacitated the ghost fully, though they were able to recover before the robot was able to shoot lasers at them with his index finger.

“NAPSTA!!” yelled Madsta in vain as they tried to fly higher away from the robot. “STOP THIS!”

“Retrieve target.” said the robot with an emotionless tone and then he took off his sweater. Jet wings sprouted from his back as he flew after the ghost and shot at them.

“NAPSTA, NO!” cried Madsta as they tried to evade the laser beams.

The robot grew impatient and he began to cry... he cried so much that his tears began to wander about in the drifting wind and then some of them landed on the ghost and slightly burned them. The ghost screamed in pain and staggered while they flew. They almost lost enough power to fly because of the myriads of tears that were around them to burn them... but they hung on to their own determination.

Madsta panicked and then began to think of what to do. They were surrounded by all these acid tears that they couldn't seem to find a way out without dying... or losing. And who knows what would happen should they lose...? They'll surely fail their mission to save their cousins. They tried to think of what to do before the tears darted at them...

... And that was when he remembered that Napstablook wasn't fully corporeal yet.

“Napsta...” uttered Madsta as they remembered. They growled and then closed their eyes tightly... they tried to avoid all the acid tears going their way although some of them still burned them. “Napsta, SNAP OUT OF IT!!”

They flew to the robot as fast as they could and then phased inside of him. The robot looked alarmed as he tried to pull the ghost out, but he couldn't... the ghost was well inside his robotic body. The robot started to hit on their own chest and then he flew more in the air as if he was out of control.

Amidst the crazy flying, the robot eventually crashed down the alley. Napstablook's robotic body lay unconsciously on the ground... lifeless, even. This was because a few feet above the alley ground, Madsta was staring down at the crash while holding Napstablook's ghost close. They sighed heavily and then parted a little to look at the melancholic ghost.

“Are you all right?” asked Madsta as they looked worriedly into Napstablook's eyes.

“...” the shy ghost nodded and then couldn't help but stare down at their damaged robotic body.

The two ghosts floated down quietly to approach the lifeless shell. It didn't seem too damaged, but it was damaged enough for it not to be able to function properly as of the time being. Sparks had emitted from the eyes and various body parts until it finally died down.

“I... I don't know what happened...” Napstablook looked a little scared. “I really didn't mean to.... I mean...... it's as if my body dictated what to do.... I......”

“It's fine.” said Madsta.

“No...... I got you hurt..... look at yourself.....” Napstablook began to cry again, but Madsta tried to stop him frantically.

“It's fine. Really! What's a few tears to a macho ghost like me?!” Madsta tried to fake his confidence. “Anyway... what did it feel like? What happened?”

“...” Napstablook looked dazed and too sorrowful to be able to come up with a proper response.

Madsta just sighed and then tried to search the robot body for anything that could act as a means of communication. Thankfully, they seemed to find a way to get the robot to access its phone function and they were able to call Sans. “Sans, uh... we got in a bit of a situation here. Mind helping us out?”

***

Minutes later, Napstablook and Madsta came back to the lab. Both of them were literally ghosts; Napstablook wasn't back inside his own body yet. Sans and Alphys saw the two and looked quite surprised.

“W-What happened to your body?” Alphys said worriedly as she looked up and down at Napstablook. “Oh my gosh! Are you hurt?”

Papyrus came in the lab holding the dysfunctional robot body of the sound mixing ghost. Its eyes were closed and it definitely looked roughed up after what had happened earlier. The reptilian scientist looked even more worried and she immediately rushed to it to examine the damages.

“Oh... thank goodness. It doesn't look like anything unrepairable.” said Alphys as she sighed out of relief. “I'll get this fixed up in a jiffy!”

“you do that. i'll finalise everything here.” said Sans as he walked over to Madsta's pending robot body.

“Oh...” Alphys smiled at him with a slight blush. “Thanks, Sans... I owe you one!”

“no you don't. we're lab partners right now and dividing labour is what we do. maddie's body is almost done anyway.” said Sans as he moved the limbs around a little.

The body looked like it was finally assembled. All the limbs were in place and it looked like a beautiful piece of work yet again designed by the amazing Dr. Alphys. The robot had black hair with red highlights and metallic “skin” much like Napstablook's and Mettaton's bodies were designed. It had a red breastplate and its torso also had a heart container like the Blook cousins, but it was, of course, empty at the moment. The build seemed to look much bigger in comparison compared to the two Blooks; their shoulders broad with a tall stature.

Madsta couldn't help but stare up at it with awe. They looked like they were about to drool as they just kept staring.

“Madsta.....? Hahaha..... you're excited to have your own body, aren't you?” asked Napstablook as they floated beside them. The other ghost could only nod weakly in reply as they still stared up at their future body.

“actually, it IS done for the most part.” said Sans as he kept his hands in his pockets. “all that's left is for us to test it if it's safe and then we'll let you test it out.”

“Is this really going to be my body? It looks... it looks horribly pretty, but the finish... I look like a sports car. A dang good one, too.” said Madsta as they rubbed the breastplate of the empty robot body. “...”

“probably we'll test it out tomorrow. make sure you get enough sleep.” Sans winked at them.

“WOW... THAT ACTUALLY LOOKS GREAT, SANS!” said Papyrus. “I GUESS I CAN BE PROUD OF YOU, AFTER ALL!”

“of course it's great.” said Sans. “after all, it has equipment meant to... grate, people.”

“ARGH!!”

“hehe.” Sans turned to the other two ghosts. “you two just go get some rest. alphys and i will finish everything up. and if the damages aren't too great on dj's body, everything will be done by tomorrow.”

“Wow........... thanks.” said Napstablook as he slightly smiled.

Both ghosts went upstairs to their room and let the experts work on their project. Papyrus can be heard getting mad at Sans' continuous puns as they floated away.

***

“So what now?” said Madsta.

“I guess...... I'll just show you my family tradition.” said Napstablook. “After a great meal, I like to lie down on the ground and feel like garbage.”

Both ghosts went on the ground and started to feel like garbage.

“Nice... that nice cream did want to make me feel like garbage.” said Madsta. “This is kinda like our tradition too, but instead of feeling like garbage, we feel like burritos and we wrap ourselves in something. That's why sometimes you can see wrapped towels or blankets back in our home.”

“Nice........” Napstablook smiled. Their expression soon changed. “Say, Madsta... what do you think happened?”

“What?”

“Why do you think my body reacted like that?”

“I... I don't know. But I think it has something to do with that black thing. Did you ever get to analyze any of its components before your body system crashed?”

“............”

“...”

“Well...... I'm not sure but...... I think it was oil.”

“Oil?”

“Mmhmm...”

The two ghosts still laid down and felt like garbage, but their relaxing vision came to be a little distorted as their imagination ran wild about what this oil could have come from... and why it affected Napstablook's body in such a way. They were hoping to find more answers as soon as they obtain their robot bodies...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What exactly was that... oil? Why did it affect them in such a way? Stay tuned to find out!
> 
> This chapter was a little okay to write... but I feel like the next chapters are gonna be a little challenging to deliver. The park they were in was actually akin to or based on Burnham Park back here in my country's summer capital. It's quite a nice park to be in with all the boats and stuff, plus strawberries!
> 
> Btw, still making it clear here... Napstablook and Madsta are NOT cousins in this fanfic! They're not related in any way and there are two ghost clans presented here. This is as mentioned in Chapter 5.


	9. A New Body!

###  **Chapter 9: A New Body!**

Madsta awoke to the faint light seeping through their window. Everything was quiet; only the silent engine whirr of the air conditioner could be heard. They floated to the slightly dusty blinds covering their window and opened them; it was only a few minutes after sunrise. They turned their head to look behind them; they saw their roommate...

They almost forgot that their partner no longer had their body for the time being for reparations; flashbacks of yesterday's events began to rush in like a raging river. It still bothered them; the way Napstablook suddenly grew violent after analysing the substance. The way they almost killed them because of a system glitch; it wasn't a normal glitch at all. Something about the oil that they had analysed must have affected them that way.

But why? Why would it affect him that way? And how?

It still boggled them as they kept themself preoccupied with such thoughts. They didn't realise that the ghost they had been thinking of had gotten up not too long ago and was now floating just behind them. They yelped a little in surprise and then sighed.

“Geez, Napsta. You could have at least warned me you were up!” said Madsta.

“Sorry........” Napstablook seemed to look a little sad. “Were you still thinking about yesterday?”

“...” Madsta bit their lip and slightly rubbed on their own ghostly scar on their forehead. “Yeah... I just couldn't wrap my head around it.”

“I couldn't either....... I didn't know what happened. I couldn't even remember what really happened...” said Napstablook. “It just did....”

“I'm sure it wasn't your fault.” said Madsta. They noticed Napstablook's regretful face, as if they were blaming themself for what had happened. “We're gonna find out why that happened and we're gonna make anyone who did that PAY. Wait a minute... we're getting our bodies today, aren't we?”

Napstablook let out a slight smile; they saw how Madsta's eyes seemed to gleam excitedly in the early morning sun and for once, they saw them smile genuinely, without malice or sarcasm like a little child. They smiled at the red fiery ghost and then nodded. “I can't wait to see what yours is going to be like...... I'm sure it would be great!”

“LET'S GO CHECK IT OUT LET'S JUST OOOOOOOOO-” Madsta began to make incomprehensible ghost screeches at the moment as he rapidly flew around the room.

***

“there... it's done.”

Sans and Alphys were looking up at the finished body. Both of the experts looked extremely stressed; Alphys looked paler than usual and Sans looked like he hadn't slept in weeks... but they looked very proud of their accomplishment.

The finished body was on an elevated platform where it was supported by something that resembled a mannequin stand. It was more well-furnished than it was the other night; the hair was added more colours, the armour was shinier, and it looked like it was finally ready to be used as a vessel.

“i still can't believe how you can make models be both efficient without the cost of beauty.” Sans smiled at her and patted her shoulder. “your designs are great.”

However, Alphys just stayed quiet; her beam from earlier deteriorated to an emotional grimace. She sighed heavily and dragged herself to a nearby swivel chair. She turned away from the short skeleton and rested her elbow on the table nearby as she rubbed her own forehead.

“still thinking about him, huh?” said Sans as he didn't hold back asking. He went to her side and patted her shoulder sympathetically. “it wasn't your fault.”

“I know that... but I should have been more careful with him. I should have kept a closer eye on him... now he's gone and... if he's... he's... I don't know what I should do...” Alphys couldn't even complete her sentences.

“alphys, no.” said Sans, his tone a little reprimanding. “we've already arranged search teams. frisk is a big help alerting some human cities though... i'm not sure how serious they are looking for him. monster city is on red alert though. the police force have dispersed a lot of their men from the city to look for him. they found nothing yet... but they're still looking.”

“What if they find him lying on the cold ground with no batteries to spare, or worse... what if he's...” Alphys began to cry and so she took off her glasses and wiped her eyes off the tears streaming down. “Mettaton...”

“...” Sans looked worriedly at her and then patted her shoulder. “you're just stressed. we're done with that madsta's body and i've worked on dj's body when you were making the finishing touches last night. they're both ready to go. we'll find him soon... the police are a great help, but these two are the biggest help we'll need.”

Sans looked at Napstablook's robot body which was lying down on a table not too far from where they were. It looked like it was only sleeping...

“...” Alphys tried to calm herself down, but she couldn't stop crying.

That was when the fish woman came in.

“WHO MADE THIS?!” said Undyne with a growl as she showed Sans the morning tabloid.

It read, “LOCAL FISHWOMAN THINKS THAT ANIME IS REAL”.

“...” Sans snorted a little and kept himself from laughing. “it's a blind item, come on.”

“You're lucky your brother's here, or I'll grab a cheese grater and... wait.” Undyne's mood suddenly changed; she had just heard the sobs of the reptilian scientist. She grew worried and then she ran to Alphys' side immediately as she flipped the tabloid on Sans' face. “Alphie? Alphie, what's wrong?”

“I-I... Mettaton...” Alphys sobbed and then hugged Undyne tightly.

“...” Undyne hugged her back and gently massaged her pointed horns a little with her fingers to calm her down; Alphys seemed to find comfort in it. “We'll find him, Alphys. Don't worry... hehe... you're looking at the former head of the royal knights, come on!”

“...” Alphys just kept on sobbing as she couldn't stop herself. She started to calm down though... as soon as she did, she parted from Undyne and nodded her a thanks. “T-Thanks, Undyne... I just didn't know what to think... he could be anywhere...”

“We've got two robots now.” said Undyne. “They're sure to find wherever Mettaton is. Pap and I are getting ready... once we find who kidnapped him, we're going to UNLEASH this tag team attack we've been practicing on!”

Alphys began to giggle through her dry tears. She wiped her face with her white laced handkerchief and then she blew her nose. Her handkerchief was almost entirely wet of her tears...

“hey you two, don't look now but i think i hear our excited ghosts.” Sans said as he looked to his side where the escalator was.

“MY BODY. MY HOTALICIOUS BODY. GIVE IT TO ME. MY BODY'S READY.” Madsta said as they rushed from the wrong escalator. It didn't matter if it was against their flow anyway; they were a ghost. They just hovered over it. The red ghost flew around their new body excitedly and practically latched themself on it. “MY BODY'S READY.”

“it's SO ready.” Sans remarked.

“Oh........ mine is, too” said Napstablook as they looked at their repaired body. “It looks so weird looking at it like this....”

Alphys smiled at the both of them and stood from her swivel chair. She giggled and patted Madsta's head; her smile began to look emotional. She had flashbacks of when Mettaton was still a cute little ghost. He was so excited to see his EX form in action, he sounded like an innocent child excited for his new toy. She couldn't help but feel emotional to see Madsta so happy with the body she made for him with Sans' assistance.

“Alright, you two. Your bodies are... ready, I guess.” she said as she tried to lighten up her voice. Napstablook seemed to see the hurt in her eyes but didn't want to open up anything. “Napsta, you know how to go in your body now right?”

Napstablook nodded. They looked at the heart core resting on the port in the robot's abdomen and then they closed their eyes. They began to fly towards the heart core and they began to get assimilated by it little by little... until the ghost was no more. The heart lit up and it began to float from its port like it usually does when activated. Napstablook's eyes began to open as he focused them to adapt to his surroundings.

Madsta parted from their new body and floated towards him. “How does it feel? Are you okay?”

“Yeah..... hey, do you need any help going in your body?” said Napstablook.

Sans was just smiling and rolling his eyes in the background. He seemed troubled to keep himself from snickering.

“Well... can you teach me?” Madsta asked as he floated back to his body. “I-If you're feeling okay, of course.”

“Of course.....” said Napstablook. “First, you have to look at the heart core. Uh.... wait, Doctor, do you want to teach him how to?”

“No, no. You can do it if you want!” said Alphys with a smile. Unlike Sans, she doesn't seem like she's about to snicker. She actually looks happy that the two ghosts appreciate her hard work.

“Alright...... first, look at your heart core. Focus on it.” said Napstablook. He examined the body. “Oh....... it looks like your heart core is in your chest..... okay, focus on that. It's on the port of your heart container because it's deactivated. To activate that, try assimilating yourself in it like you did with your dummy body. You think you can do that......?”

“Yeah, I'll try.” Madsta nodded. He tried to follow Napstablook's instructions and then he slowly began to be assimilated by the heart core as he flew inside of it.

...

The heart remained dim even after assimilation.

Alphys and Napstablook looked worried. It wasn't after a few moments they heard what sounded like a beep coming from the red robot, then an opening ringtone from it. The heart finally lit up in a crimson hue and it started to float like Napstablook's...

The crimson robot's eyes began to open slowly.

Alphys seemed both excited and apprehensive seeing it move in front of her eyes. She didn't know how to react and so she just stared up at it. She knew she had made two functioning robot vessels by now, and she has actually improved in robotics but... seeing one work like this was always such an exciting moment for her. Each time was like seeing her own baby learn to speak and walk on their own.

  


“Napsta...” said the robot as soon as their eyes were open. It was already Madsta speaking through it. His voice sounded much deeper than his cute but rough ghost voice... it startled the shy robot a little.

“M-Madsta...?” Napstablook looked surprised, shocked even. Finally the robot moved enough...

... until it fell from the platform and the mannequin support holding it up.

... It fell flat on its face.

“...” Napstablook didn't know what to think, but he just helped the red robot get up anyway. He looked down at the robot and held his face by his cheeks gently with his hands. “Are you okay?”

“...” Madsta looked up at him, although he was still face down on the ground. He looked hurt, but he could not help but stare into his eyes with his own crimson ones...

... he started to blush and overheat.

“his first functions had to be blushing and overheating.” said Sans. “welp, now you know he works. he doesn't seem to know how to work it though.”

“What a dork.” Undyne smirked.

“How do you legs.” Madsta said with a growl as soon as he heard Sans talk. He seemed to finally snap out of it and he tried to get up, but he still couldn't seem to.

Napstablook held both of his hands and helped him get up. His hands seemed quite large in comparison to his tiny ones... it surprised him a little. Even Mettaton's hands weren't too big in comparison; Mettaton actually had somewhat petit hands for his build. He was also quite heavy, though... the shy robot had a somewhat hard time getting him to his feet; the other staggered and weighed too much from all the robotic parts.

“Yeah... I guess I should help you figure it out, eh?” Alphys smiled a little awkwardly. “Napsta, I hope you don't mind... can you help him too? You two have similar mechanics and it would be easier for him to understand... English.”

“you'd be her interpreter if she gets too technical.” said Sans.

“Alright...... I'll try” said Napstablook with a nod as he helped Madsta keep his balance. He looked up at him as he tried to support the awkward crimson robot. “He's so heavy...”

“Yeah... uh... that's because he's a robot specialized with weapons.” said Alphys a little nervously. “He's the real killer robot that we all hoped to have before in the Underground... not Mettaton. But I couldn't finish that body in time, Metta prefers a different kind of body, and Metta comes first so...”

Napstablook smiled sweetly at the scientist. “You're so kind, Doctor........ thank you.....”

Alphys blushed a little at the complement and then grinned awkwardly. “H-Hey, no problem! I was just doing my job, you know? N-Now let's get Madsta to learn how to operate his new body!”

***

They went to a spacious white room; the ceilings were feet high above their heads and the air felt quite heavy due to the closed nature of the place. The room looked like it was about as commodious as a building, it almost felt a little intimidating. The numerous lights illuminated them from the high ceiling, it was almost blinding especially for the robots whose eyes were more sensitive than organic life forms.

“I feel...... tiny......” said Napstablook as he looked around. He squinted his eyes around as he felt blinded by the lights.

Alphys took out a remote and began to adjust the light so that the robots were comfortable. “This is the main testing room. It's especially designed so that you can try out your skills such as flying and your special abilities! Mettaton would sing here back then when he was all alone... he said it was the perfect recording room for his singing.”

Alphys and Napstablook seemed to feel a little emotional at the thought of Mettaton, but they stayed strong. The scientist was finally able to adjust the light settings to a comfortable level.

Finally, the robots could see much better. Napstablook could finally see what he was doing, and was able to giggle about it. He remembered that he was pulling a wagon large enough for Madsta to sit in when hugging his legs.

“Veeeeery funny. This is humiliating.” Madsta growled. On a normal occasion, he would have thrown a fit and screamed at everyone, but he just... couldn't seem to yell at the shy robot. All he could do was growl and glare, but it didn't seem to intimidate the other robot.

Alphys giggled at this as well. She approached the two robots and helped them get the heavy Madstabot out. She and Napstablook seemed to have a bit of a hard time getting him out, especially that he doesn't seem to have control of his legs and balance yet...

... Madsta ended up falling on top of both Napstablook and Alphys, much to their dismay. He was extremely heavy that it felt like someone just dumped a car on top of the both of them.

“AH! M-Madsta, you're heavy! C-Could you try to crawl away? We're... really... I'm really losing oxygen...” Alphys wheezed, but still kept an awkward grin on her face. She tried to crawl away, but she was stuck.

“Madsta, I was programmed to feel pain...” said Napstablook as he looked up at him and tried to push him away. “... You're too heavy even for me...”

“W-Wait, I got this. I just gotta...” Madsta tried to get up, but he seemed to activate something else instead.

Blades whizzed out from his shoulder pads and his two companions squealed in fear and shock from it, as he still pinned them down with his weight. They weren't hurt or anything, but just seeing the two blades stick out from his shoulder pads were enough to terrify the both of them. Both of them held their arms up in defense and looked up at him fearfully.

“M-Madsta, be careful with those! N-Now, all you have to do is listen. Your built-in commands are set to easy mode... s-so all you have to do is be able to manage those functions! T-Tell me... do you see any commands there? You should have an internal guide to help you... ehehe... y-you activated your weapons s-so I-I think you did s-s-something wrong...?” Alphys managed to crack a terrified smile. She seemed to be sweating in fear.

“Y-You'll get the hang of it, Maddie...” said Napstablook as he tried to sound friendly.

“...” Madsta felt even more flustered that more blades whizzed out of his shoulder pads. He was blushing hard.

“...” Alphys didn't seem to like getting squished by a giant paper weight, so she eventually was able to slip her arm to find a remote control and then she pressed a button. Madsta almost immediately rolled over to set the two free. She gasped for air and then sat up, which worried the shy ghost bot.

“Are you okay, Doctor...?” asked the blue robot worriedly.

“I'm fine...” Alphys coughed and tried to inhale deeply. “I-I'm okay... but Madsta definitely has a lot to learn about his body.”

“I... couldn't even operate it on easy mode...” Madsta looked hopeless and defeated as he laid down on the cold hard ground.

“Hey don't lose hope..... when I first got this body, Shyren and Papyrus had to help me walk for days...... Pinky would too, if he didn't have fully-booked time slots for his shows.” said the shy blue ghost robot. He didn't seem to be that bitter about talking about his lost cousin, though the hurt was still in his eyes. “Doctor and I will help you... okay? You'll learn how to walk and use your body the way you should soon....”

“...” Madsta just nodded up at them, though he still felt a little hopeless. “Thanks. Alright, let's do this.”

“Okay.” Alphys smiled.

They began to teach him the basics: first things first, he must learn how to walk. He can't go anywhere without learning how to walk; flying was a little more technical and walking was actually much simpler. Napstablook helped Madsta. He held the other's large hands with his own, tiny and petit. It almost felt like teaching someone how to skate; he had to walk backwards while he helped guide the other to walk forward towards him.

“You're doing it, Madsta!” Napstablook smiled up at him and then resumed to watching his steps.

Madsta was still quite nervous. He couldn't look at the other for long for fear he'd lose his balance again. He took little baby steps at a time. Actually, some of the steps didn't look like steps at all... he just sometimes slides his feet forward as if he was skating. He was afraid that if he lifted one foot, he would stumble on the other.

“I could understand why he seems so scared to lose balance.” said Alphys watching them from a distance not too far from them. “He's much heavier than you, Napsta. It's a little easier for him to lose his balance.”

“Ah..... I see” said Napstablook as he continued to guide the crimson robot.

Madsta seemed to be getting the hang of it; he could finally make real baby steps this time while he held the shorter robot's hands. He could now manage to look at the other's face, albeit a little nervously since he was still learning how to walk and maintain his balance.

“H-Hey..... this isn't so bad at all!” said Madsta as he tried to keep himself from falling.

They moved around the room a little more. Madsta looked like he actually got a little too confident that he tripped on his own steps and then fell down on top of the shorter robot again. Both of them blushed in embarrassment.

“You're so heavy.......” Napstablook managed to say, although in a low tone.

“Y-Yeah, I know. Sorry, I'll try to... uh... how do I get off you...?” Madsta asked awkwardly. He tried to move his arms around, but the same blades whizzed out from his shoulder pads again. And this time, one of his arms fell off... Napstablook seemed freaked out.

“O-Oh! That's all part of the design!” said Alphys as she rushed to the both of them. She held the same remote from earlier and then made Madsta roll over on his back again to get him off Napstablook. “Your limbs and your head can freely detach from your body... actually, your whole body is segmented so that it can detach from each other... the reason being your weapons are hidden all over inside your body. This is why... uh.... given your design, I don't know if I can make you a box model like Mettaton and Napstabot...”

“Napstabot?” asked Madsta.

“Uh... yeah! That's his robot model name.” said Alphys. “But he prefers to be called 'Napstablook'. Mettaton didn't seem to like Napstabot as a screen name... but we'll see about that. W-We're going to get him back and ask what name he wants to call him!”

“He said I'm DJ Wave...” said Napstablook.

“Oh... haha! Well... that sounds good too!” said Alphys with a slight grin. “Um..... well, maybe we can try this again! Uh.... I'll disable your weapons for now so we won't get in any accident, alright?”

Alphys seemed nervous about the newer robot's weapons. With her remote, she made the blades retract into his shoulder pads and then she disabled all the weapons from coming out of his body. “We'll just need to work on how you can move around, alright? I'm sure you'll learn it within a day or two! I mean, with that progress!”

“Are you mocking me?” Madsta growled as he laid down on the ground and rubbed his own face with a hand exasperatedly.

“N-No! Far from it, I mean it when you're making progress!” Alphys looked tense.

“Don't worry, Madsta. Doctor's really a nice person! I mean, she lost sleep to make our bodies... we really owe her a lot...” said Napstablook as he knelt beside him.

Madsta just sighed and then looked up at the other robot. “You're right. Well, let's give this another try.”

Napstablook smiled and then they started to learn how to walk with each other again.

Days passed...

Madsta was finally able to walk even without his companion's hands and was able to retain his balance. His weapons were still disabled for safety, but he seemed to be able to coordinate his body movements much better after a couple of days.

He was walking around the testing room to practice and callibrate his balance. Napstablook and Alphys were watching him from a distance not too far from him and smiled at the progress. Both looked at each other and gave each other a high five for helping Madsta finally be able to walk and use his body for basic necessities. He could even use his arms properly now, so that if ever he does trip on something, he could help himself up without anybody's help.

“Well, he won't be a metal crusher anymore I guess!” said Alphys with a smile. “You seem ready to try out your weapons. I'll enable some of the simpler, less deadly kind of weapons... okay?”

Madsta smiled at this and then nodded. “I'm excited to see some action!”

***

After a few moments, all the other inhabitants of the building came inside the testing room. Undyne, Papyrus, and Sans all stayed with Alphys; they stayed behind a protective projectile shield made of thick layers of see-through plastic that the dorky but adorable scientist made. They all looked at the two robots in the distance having a face off.

Napstablook took off his sweater folded it nicely. He walked over to Alphys and nodded at her. “Please take care of it.”

He went back to where Madsta was and faced him. Both looked like they were ready to fight each other... they both readied their stances.

Both of them stared into each others' eyes as they waited for each other's turn... but when nobody dared make the first move, Madsta decided that he must do it himself. He ran towards the smaller robot and drew the blades that whizzed from his shoulder pads. Each blade was tucked firmly between his fingers as he dashed towards the shy one.

The red robot darted the blades towards the other's direction, but the other evaded just in time by rolling on the ground. The blue robot pressed some buttons on his headphones with both his hands and then he began to emit visible soundwaves... they looked like eighth notes that slowly drifted all around him as he ran around the room. That was when he started to lock on the red robot and then the music notes started to hurtle towards the target.

“Whoa!” Madsta rolled over to evade the notes, but some notes hit him and shocked his system a little. It did hurt him, but it didn't seem to do any mortal damage. “F-!!”

In the background, Sans was standing atop a stool behind Papyrus and he put his bony hands on each of his brother's ears... if he had them.

“WHAT? WHAT'S HE SAYING?” asked Papyrus.

“You're better than I thought.” Madsta smiled and then he tapped where the pulse of his arm should be and it opened up. He drew a thin blade from it and smirked at his opponent. It looked like the length of a regular kitchen knife, only it looked a little thinner with the handle that resembled a simple rapier hilt. “I was studying my body a little when you were sleeping, so I now know where I hide all my weapons. Get ready, Napsta! You'll get OWNED!”

“Nobody owns me...” said Napstablook. He smirked a little at this and then put his hands to his headphones again. “... But maybe it is you who will get owned by me.”

“Ooooooh.” Madsta snickered a little and then ran towards the other once more. He flicked the blade and it extended to a rapier made of light energy and electromagnetic waves. He smirked as he tried to attack the other with it, but he evidently missed as he recklessly swung it around.

“You don't know how to use that, do you...?” said Napstablook as he taunted a little, though he was actually a little nervous to get hit. He clapped his hands and a blue transparent electromagnetic shield formed around him; much like the shield that he had used around a week ago to defend himself and Mettaton from the attack of the dummies. “You'll have to get me to win this round...”

Napstablook seemed to tease him a little as he ran around the room once more and even flew around with his built-in jet pack it so that he was almost always within Madsta's reach, but could never get him. He giggled a little and then looked ahead and seemed to be in a daze. Not long after, he deactivated his shield and then he began to sob as he flew around. He stopped in one place just above the other robot and looked down at him with teary eyes.

Madsta was left staring up at him even if he still held his rapier tightly. He seemed to look a little worried or concerned, though his face still looked like he was serious about winning their sparring session. That was when he remembered...

.”S-T!!” screamed Madsta as he looked up at the shorter robot floating just above him. He started to run away from the scene, but Napstablook tried to fly over him like a cloud.

In the background, Sans put some ear mufflers on Papyrus. Papyrus seemed entertained though, he liked watching the robots fight. Undyne was hugging Alphys from behind as if saying she was so proud of her. They couldn't hear what they were saying; the plastic shield hindered them from doing so.

Napstablook was crying tears of acid, almost like acid rain as he kept up his pace with the frantic red robot. He was actually laughing a little while crying, which only made Madsta freaked out even more by him. The tears did feel like they burned the red robot; as a reprisal, the red robot flinched and tried to reach out for his feet.

The blue robot yelped; he didn't know he stooped down a little too low that Madsta was able to grab his feet like that. He tried so hard to escape the grip of the red robot on his feet, but he had to struggle doing so. It felt like he fell in a trap and he was desperate to get out of it... he added more speed so that he could get away from his heavy opponent, but...

Suddenly it felt much lighter. When he looked down, he looked shocked.

... Madsta's lower body was left lying down on the ground and only his upper body was hanging onto him. And he was still smirking.

“DOCTOR! IS HE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?!” Napstablook cried in a fit of panic. He was so scared that he started to fly in circles to try and get his grip away.

Alphys couldn't hear his cries; even when he cried, he sounded like a cute little kitten. It was a little hard to hear behind the shield.

“DOCTORRRRR!!” Napstablook cried and eventually flew to the shield protecting her and the others.

Alphys was surprised, and so were the others. The two robots splatted on the shield just like bugs on a windshield...

***

“I guess the sparring was a tie...” said the reptilian scientist with a little smile on her face. She scratched the back of her head and then looked at the two robots...

Both of them were sitting on the ground; Napstablook looked like he was low on battery and actually looked either tired or grumpy. Madsta looked definitely grumpy as he was finally put back together in one piece.

“Uh... Napsta, yeah his body was supposed to do that. I did say he was segmented so his body parts can detach like his dummy body back then.” explained Alphys. She walked in front of them and then patted their heads gently. It was enough to calm Napstablook down, but Madsta still growled slightly.

The red robot grumbled. “Guess we'll have to duke it out next time, huh? Ugh... my nose.”

“My nose... too.....” Napstablook groaned as he put his hands on his nose. “Ugh........”

“You two better get recharged upstairs. Uh...” Alphys blushed a little as she remembered something. “Oh... uh... I'll have to get the both of you separate beds tomorrow. It's still in... oh man... this is so embarrassing... my spare box bed is still back in the studio. I'll get it delivered here first thing tomorrow morning, okay?”

“...” the two looked tired and awkward as they just stared at Alphys and avoided each other's eye contact.

“Uh... yeah, um...” the scientist seemed extremely awkward about the situation and then just grinned nervously at them. “S-So, maybe one of you can lie down on the ground with um... with a blanket! O-Or...”

“It's fine. We'll sleep together. That's what you want, right?” said Madsta as he broke the awkward atmosphere. Actually, it didn't. It just made things even more awkward than before.

“...” Alphys blushed hard and looked even more nervous. “I-I'll be working on those spare parts now!”

She dashed away and then went back to the lab proper where the others were waiting for her. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves as soon as the lab doors closed. The two robots were left in the testing room.

“That was a pretty good fight...” said Napstablook as he smiled at Madsta. “It's not bad for someone new to their body...”

Madsta seemed to smile back at him and then he sighed. “Yeah, that was... that was really fun.”

They both smiled at each other and then they both looked at the ground they were sitting on.

“Well.... um... I guess we'd best go back to our rooms to recharge.” Napstablook smiled at him and then got up groggily. He let out a hand for Madsta to hold when he got up.

Madsta was very heavy and he was actually strong, he pulled the other to him by accident. The other didn't seem to mind. He was very low on battery that he was almost unconscious. Madsta however seemed like his battery was a little low, but not dangerously low like the other's.

“Come on, let's go get charged up.” Madsta smiled and then carried him in his arms. He went back to the lab so that they can go walk back to their room in the second floor through the escalator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh a new chapter. ♥  
> But still no Mettaton... where could he be??
> 
> Question: Why is Madsta red??
> 
> Interesting question. Actually, I was debating whether or not I'd stick with the same old red colour as his ghost, or if I'd stick to the fanon yellow mustard colour.
> 
> I just thought... he didn't have a real choice as to what colour his dummy body had, it's probably a preset one and he probably didn't paint it. I was thinking the dummy colours were all the same; just that Shysta's dummy was paler because it was probably faded or older than Madsta's.
> 
> I mean, it had been with Toriel for a long time... who knows how long it's been there! As for Madsta, we can't be too sure but he may be a newer dummy since his colors are more saturated and he has kept both dummy eyes unlike Shysta.


	10. What Happened...

###  **Chapter 10: What Happened...**

“I...”

“Come on, Madsta... it's alright. Don't be shy.”

Napstablook and Madsta were kneeling on the floor the next morning. There was a dishevelled sleeping bag on the floor just next to the barely made-up bed. The red robot looked like he was trying to fix the sleeping bag before the other knelt down in front of him and offered both of his hands to him.

Madsta looked a little nervous and he actually looked... shy, when he took the other's tiny hands into his own. He seemed to blush a little and then he stared into the other's eyes.

“Why are we doing this?” asked the taller robot.

“We'll try to connect networks.” replied the other. “I'll help you, don't worry! It's only a little hard at first but once we're done with this, it should be easy the next time...”

Madsta just smiled at him and then nodded slowly. “I'll follow your lead, then.”

“Turn your wifi on. It's within your system; you should be able to see it easily.” said the blue robot as he closed his eyes.

Both had their eyes closed for a few minutes as they held hands. When they both opened their eyes slowly, they were both blank by comparison but they had information and data flowing through them as if looking through a complex computer screen processing different data all at the same time.

“This is...” Madsta looked a little surprised.

“Our networks are connected.” said Napstablook with a slight smile. “This way, we can access each other's files in storage, as well as each other's emails... like Pinky and I did.”

“... You have a lot of fans.” said Madsta with surprise in his tone. “DJ Wave... wow, so you really are a celebrity.”

“All thanks to Pinky.” said Napstablook with slight sadness in his tone.

“...” Madsta seemed to growl a little. “Right, we need to take care of that guy who took him away. Hey, you think any of these creepers ever got your cousin? Some fanmails seem... ridiculous. WHAT THE- hey, don't you talk about Nappy that way! Did you see that email?? WHAT A CREEP! WHY I OUGHTA-”

When Madsta raised a hand, the other robot made sure their hands were still holding each other to keep their networks stable and connected.

“W-Whoa! Madsta, calm down... yes, they're creepy but... that's normal in show business...” Napstablook looked a little scared, but he seemed a little used to it. “This is why I rarely check my fan mail... at least 30% of them are creeps. Wait... Madsta, did you just call me 'Nappy'?”

“W-WHA well... umm...” Madsta tried to think of an excuse. “Well your cousin called you Nappy before right? And your cousin Franny?”

“Oh...” the blue robot just nodded and then smiled at him. “That's right. Well... I don't really mind! Do you... want me to call you 'Maddie' in return?”

The other blushed hard and then turned his head away. “Whatever.”

“Okay... Maddie.”

Madsta just bit his lip and looked even more flustered. He seemed to keep awkwardly quiet as he didn't know what else to say to the other.

“... Okay, at least we now know that our networks can be connected.....” said the blue robot.

That was when the reptilian scientist came into their automatic door made of metal. It seemed akin to any standard lab door they have seen around Alphys' former lab in the Underground. She looked a little panicked as they approached them.

“We need to talk.” said the scientist. And at that, the two slowly let go of their hands as they looked up at her.

***

“irregular activity has been detected where you lived, madsta.” said Sans.

Both Sans and Alphys were talking to the robots who listened intently to them. They stood in front of the huge screen that Alphys usually worked on when she was trying to decipher Mettaton's whereabouts. The monitor showed a particular spot on the map of Monster City. Appearing on the screen alongside it were different processes and it looked like the readings were going off the chart... it was picking up something that looked... turbulent.

“W-What is that??” Madsta looked alarmed, especially since it was in the alley he lived with his cousin Shysta.

Napstablook looked alarmed as well, but wasn't able to react with words. He looked up at the map and tried to understand the readings more.

“That's what's we're troubled about.” said Alphys as she looked worriedly at the two as she interpreted the readings. “Something there is causing all this uproar enough to throw all my readings into a mess! All we know is that it's probably serious trouble.”

“I think we should go.” said Napstablook as he stared at the monitor. “Whatever it is must have some clues to Pinky's whereabouts... and probably, Shysta's as well.”

“...” Madsta looked at Napstablook and then looked at the others as well. “If it's causing a disturbance in my home then probably it is directly linked to the disappearances... and maybe we can finally find out what happened to our cousins.”

“you two sure you can take this out on your own? madsta, you're not too used to your weapons yet. think you can handle this?” Sans warned the both of them.

“We'll be fine.” said Madsta as he spoke for both him and the shorter blue robot. “Just keep track of those readings and keep in touch, I guess. Nappy and I will take care of this disturbance.”

“nappy...” Sans snickered a little. “whatever you say.”

Alphys didn't know how to react either, she was caught in-between laughing and blushing at this. She just nodded at the both of them and then smiled. “Good luck to the both of you! You know how to activate your jet packs now, right?”

“Yes, Doctor.” Napstablook nodded. “We'll be on our way now... we will contact you if we find anything.”

The robots nodded and then they went out of the lab to go on their way. They used their jet packs built in their upper armours and then flew off to Madsta's home...

***

As soon as they landed just outside of the alley, they rushed right inside and then looked around. Everything felt... wrong. The place was still somewhat quiet... eerily quiet, like they last left it. The boxes were left where they were, even the little articles like hung clothing on improvised clotheslines that the ghosts once used were left untouched. The empty, lifeless dummy bodies were still on the ground like when they left it the other day.

“This feels weird...” said Napstablook as he looked around. “What's going on..... I feel...”

His head began to throb and then he put his hands to his temples. He looked a little weaker as he grunted in pain, but he was still able to stand on his feet.

“Napsta!” said Madsta as he still felt awkward calling him by a nickname such as “Nappy”. Besides, the nickname felt... weird, somehow.

“I-I'm fine... but my system picked up something... something like violent waves. We must keep going...” said Napstablook as he tried to walk despite the headache.

Madsta looked worried but he just stayed by the other's side as they walked through the dead alley.

As they went further, that was when it all started to feel even eerier. The place got darker and darker... it was unusually dark; even if the alley was somehow hidden in the shadows, it wasn't supposed to be eerily dark during daytime. Napstablook sensed even more bad vibes as they went in, and so did Madsta. They felt like they were going in a trap... but they had no other choice. They had to go in if they wanted to find out what was causing this disturbance they had seen from Alphys' radars.

Madsta looked around and then felt shocked when he looked at the ground again.

“Napsta...” said Madsta as he pointed at the ground.

As both of them had night vision in case the place had become too dark for them, both of them saw the ground and the rest of the alley quite clearly even if it was eerily devoid of most of the daylight.

“T-That... that was the same substance we saw days ago.” said Napstablook out loud as he stared at the small puddles of the black substance on the ground. “What are those...”

“Those... those are...” Madsta looked at them. “They're... fresh. They're fresh. The source must still be around here somewhere!”

Napstablook looked shocked as he looked up at his taller companion. Both of them stared at each other worriedly and awkwardly before they nodded and walked briskly through the alley to find out the source of the unknown, oil-like substance.

Napstablook himself said that it was probably oil, but because it caused a reaction in his system, he wasn't able to find out what it was entirely. Now that it was in front of them again... it was probably time they found out what it was. The two robots proceeded with much apprehension; their feelings a mix of both fear and anticipation.

That was when Madsta raised an arm sideward to prevent Napstablook from walking even further. He seemed to be picking up something.

“I don't know how to send data, Napstablook... but send them some data and messages that... that I'm picking up something. I think I see something in the distance. We have to be careful... we're not alone.” Madsta said in a low, quiet tone.

Napstablook felt the chills of the processes down his spine as he tried to message Alphys within his system. He sent a message successfully as he gulped in apprehension.

Something was down in the end of the alley.

It may very well be what they were looking for... a major clue to finally finding the whereabouts of their cousins Mettaton and Shystaspook.

But how are they going to face it?

What was it?

What will happen to them?

...

The two robots looked at each other once more and then held hands tightly as they both felt horrible vibes about whatever was waiting for them at the end of the alley. The alley felt darker and the atmosphere heavier and thicker... they didn't know what was going on, nor did they know what they will do... but their minds were set to do anything and everything in their power to find answers.

The atmosphere felt even more tense as they went closer. They could make out a figure standing in the distance... and it seemed closer and closer as they continued treading on. They honestly felt terrified of whatever it may have been. As they continued to walk, albeit even more apprehensively, they could make out it was a figure standing in the distance... it looked like the height of a regular humanoid such as them. They still could not make it out... their night vision was acting up due to the strange signals that the place had been emitting.

They came to find out that... the signals were coming from the figure ahead. The more that they walked, the more that their systems seemed to act up; though it didn't seem enough to actually damage them.

The both of them could not speak to each other though they wanted to. They slowly walked until they could finally see the figure clearly... they were just a few feet away from it.

This was enough to make Napstablook gasp out of the blue upon seeing the figure.

“... Pinky.” said Napstablook as he saw the figure.

It indeed looked like Mettaton... the figure was facing away from them and was hidden in the shadows, but had become increasingly visible as they approached him in a safe distance. Madsta looked too shocked to move, but Napstablook was willing to walk forward. However, when the red robot saw this, he pulled Napstablook a little harshly to his side.

“Napsta, are you crazy?? Look...” said Madsta as he pointed at the ground once more. “We were following the black substance... and look...”

He pointed at the puddles leading to none other than the figure itself. He looked back at Napstablook and shook his head. “We have to be careful. That substance made your system act up... and we can't be so sure that's him.”

“Of course that's him!” said Napstablook. “P-Probably he just needs some help! His oil may be leaking and...”

The figure slowly turned to them and then faced them so that its face was no longer obscured. Napstablook gasped and was frozen in his tracks.

It was indeed Mettaton.

  
  


But the eye that his soft, wavy locks have been covering was leaking oil, and so was his abdomen and various vents of his body. His face looked blank at first glance, but he looked... pained. His body looked stiff and he acted strangely... he didn't look like he was the bright ray of sunshine that Napstablook had grown up with. He didn't look like himself at all. Both of his eyes were glowing red in the dark as he stared back at the duo.

...

He remained silent as he just stared at them. The oil from his body kept on leaking out.

“P-Pinky...” Napstablook choked out and stared back at him; his tears started to well up in his eyes.

“Mettaton...” said Madsta. “I-It's us. Remember? This is Napstablook, your cousin. I'm that annoying red ghost Madsta. Remember? I got a body. Both of us were looking for you and my cousin and...”

“Capture.” said Mettaton in a neutral tone and then several weapons started to branch out from his back. Weapons such as machine guns and mini cannons, as well as rocket launchers... and there also seemed to be a unknown device attached to him. It looked like it was used to contain something...

“NAPSTA, RUN!” yelled Madsta as he held the other's arm tightly and then ran away from Mettaton.

“PINKY!!” screamed Napstablook as they were running away.

The missiles almost made a clear shot for the both of them if the red robot didn't opt to run away. Mettaton immediately chased the both of them as he glided through the air with a jet pack similar to theirs. He locked on the two as his targets and started shooting several missiles at them, but luckily the two always found a way to evade them. Madsta almost got hit, but he was incapacitated by the ground shock only for a few moments before he started catching up to the blue robot's pace.

“Why's he after us?!” Madsta yelled. “HEY, PINKSTER! WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!”

“All of you must be captured.” said Mettaton as his other hand transformed into a beam blaster. He targeted his own cousin and shot, but Madsta was quick enough to push Napstablook away from the line of fire.

“MADDIE!!” screamed Napstablook as the red robot was shot. The red robot got up groggily and managed to crack a smile...

... but then Mettaton swooped down and then managed to pierce his abdomen from behind with a spear. Madsta screamed in pain; Napstablook was frozen for a little while, but he managed to press his emergency button at the back of his own nape. He used up twice as much power as he usually did, but he was able to act more deliberately and focused as in an adrenaline rush for organic beings.

He flew towards Mettaton and pinned him down on the ground. The two cousins began to wrestle each other; Napstablook had been getting stained with his cousin's oil. He could care less about getting stained... all that mattered at the moment was that he got Mettaton away from his red companion and that he talk his cousin back into his senses.

Just what was going on, anyway? Why was he doing this?

“Pinky... PINKY! Please snap out of it!” cried Napstablook as he tried to hold down his own cousin, but they struggled for dominance. “I'm your cousin, Napstablook! Remember?! IT'S BLOOKY!!”

“Does not compute. Must be captured.” said Mettaton blankly as he managed to roll on top of his cousin and started to strangle him with one hand. His other hand was raised to gesture the device from earlier to capture his cousin.

Madsta pulled out the spear from his abdomen with a yelp and then he proceeded to rush to the pink robot. He was going to impale him with the same spear...

... but Mettaton sensed him coming and then aimed his rocket launchers at him. He looked down at the blue robot once more and then choked him even more as he seemed to look for a button or a switch on his body.

“Time for you to sleep.” said Mettaton as he shattered the glass that protected Napstablook's heart core. He reached out inside and past the heart to fiddle with the switches and buttons from inside.

“P-Pinky...” Napstablook choked out and cried helplessly. His cousin was starting to shut down his systems. He felt weak and he felt like he was going to pass out...

... but Madsta managed to pry Mettaton away from him and punched him away before he could further hurt the blue robot. The blue robot was already weak from his cousin's attacks, but he was able to groggily get up. He went straight for Mettaton to try to deactivate him as well...

But Mettaton punched Madsta away and started to malfunction. “Capturing failed... ectoplasm captor... warning... error. Retreat to homebase immediately.”

He emitted gas from his vents on his arms and it began to slowly disperse to the two other robots. The two were rendered unconscious as he disappeared in the cloud of smoke.

...

***

“Napsta... Napsta! Are you alright?”

Someone shook Napstablook awake... the voice was familiar. It sounded extremely worried as the shaking became even more insistent. Surely enough, the blue robot groaned. He slowly opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings...

It was the familiar-looking lab of his scientist friend. He had been lying down on a lab table. He looked around and saw that it was Alphys who had shaken him awake. He looked down at himself and saw that the glass on his abdomen had been replaced and he looked as good as new from his point of view. “Doctor...”

“Oh, Napsta... thank goodness! I was worried about what happened back there!” said Alphys as she hugged the blue robot tightly. “We found you and Madsta unconscious on the ground with that weird substance... we confirmed that it was indeed oil.”

“It is... it came from Pinky.” said Napstablook without hesitation. He seemed to look around where Madsta could have been; he was worried about his condition after getting impaled.

“W-What?!” Alphys looked flabbergasted at this. She called for Sans, Papyrus, and Undyne.

The three came along with Madsta sitting on a wheelchair. He seemed to be fine as his injuries were temporarily wrapped with electrical tape to keep his parts and wires together til he had some real repairs. They all sat around the lab table where the blue robot sat as the latter started to recall his memories. He began to tell them everything that had happened in the alley earlier that day. He seemed especially emotional retelling the story where his cousin started to choke him and talked about capturing him and Madsta.

“so... you say that metta leaked oil and he tried to kill you?” Sans looked serious about this.

“WHAT?! METTATON DID THAT?!” Papyrus looked shocked in disbelief.

Sans sighed. “i'll explain everything later, pap. i'm sorry i didn't tell you earlier.”

“TELL ME WHAT?!” Papyrus looked so confused as he looked around. It seemed that everyone just kept quiet and didn't know what to say... everyone had been hiding the truth from him. “SO... DOES THIS MEAN I'M THE ONLY PERSON WHO DOESN'T KNOW...? BUT WHY?”

“... pap, i'm sorry. i just didn't know how to tell you.” Sans looked a little disappointed in himself. “but i promise we'll explain it to you, alright?”

“...” Papyrus looked a little hurt, but then he nodded at this and then just kept quiet to listen to what they had to say.

“Um....” Alphys tried to start a conversation. “But you said you tried analyzing a similar substance the other day that made you attack ghost Madsta... right? Do you think that it's the same thing and... wait, that must be it! Mettaton must be doing this because of whatever may have been circulating in his system! Oil flows through your bodies like blood you see... so it greatly affects you.”

“...” Napstablook was speechless. “Maybe that's it... but what happened to him that may have made him act like this?”

“That's what we're going to find out.” said Alphys. “Something's fishy here... it's as if somebody's controlling him to do this.”

“He was also talking about an ectoplasmic... captor?” said Madsta as he tried to recall. “I bet he was the one capturing my cousins...”

“But Pinky would never do that!” said Napstablook, obviously on defensive.

“I know he wouldn't do that on his own. Your cousin is loud-mouthed but harmless. But whoever is making him do this isn't harmless.” said Madsta a little angrily. “I'm willing to bet that Shysta's with your cousin... but we haven't seen him. What would they need with ghosts...? All my cousins are gone...”

Napstablook looked a little sad about this as he just stared at Madsta. He hung his head low and tried to process everything that had happened thus far... the substance that they had seen in the hotel... and in the alley... were all the same thing. Which means...

... They all came from Mettaton.

But who is behind this and why? Why would they get Mettaton to do this? How did they get him to do this and... why target Madsta's family?

They could only hope that they will finally get some answers soon...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short but a little painful to write... here you go! Mettaton... what happened?  
> On a side note, I'm kinda glad to feature more Alphys. ♥


	11. Blooky and Pinky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #herecomestheangst

###  **Chapter 11: Blooky and Pinky**

  
Everyone was busy that day. Alphys and Sans were in front of their various monitors to try and decipher what the readings meant and how Mettaton could have been emitting such signals. As Alphys was the body designer of the robot Mettaton, she started to look back at his blueprints and his files so that she and Sans could discuss them in more detail.  
  
  
Undyne was with Papyrus as she tried to explain everything to him. Both of them were in the lab kitchen. It was quite spacious; it had more room for cupboards and a fridge that contained more than just spaghetti. Undyne had offered Papyrus a glass of milk and a glass of water for herself. There was a plate full of spaghetti with some smaller plates by its side should they be interested to get some for themselves.  
  
  
“WHY DID EVERYONE KEEP A SECRET FROM ME...?” Papyrus sounded so depressed as he looked down at his glass of milk. “I-I MEAN...”  
  
  
He didn't sound angry or anything, he just sounded so confused and... sad.  
  
  
“Oh Papyrus...” Undyne looked sadly at him. She sighed before she continued. “Pap... it's because you're our cinnamon roll, you know? We were afraid that... that...”  
  
  
“... THAT I'D GET HURT?” Papyrus didn't look up at her and just stared down at his glass.  
  
  
“... Well, yeah.” Undyne sounded a little awkward as she tried to think of how else to explain the situation. “We were afraid that... well... uh... how do I say this?”  
  
  
“THAT I WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND, RIGHT? THAT I... I'M JUST A KID, RIGHT?” Papyrus said quietly. He didn't sound like the usual... ray of sunshine, that always had been joyful and hopeful of everything.  
  
  
“Wait, Pap... no. Well... maybe? But the thing is, we WERE going to tell you.” said Undyne. She stood up and tried to reach for his shoulder... which, she was able to thankfully. She was afraid that he would shake her hand off him. “We were going to tell you... we just didn't know how to. We didn't know how to tell you and... we were afraid how you'd take it. But I guess you had to learn that way... huh? That was even worse...”  
  
  
“IT'S ALRIGHT... I UNDERSTAND YOU WERE JUST TRYING TO PROTECT ME FROM THE TRUTH.” Papyrus seemed to have calmed down a little. “SANS ALWAYS DOES THAT.”  
  
  
“Eh?” Undyne looked puzzled and then she just sat down and drank some of her water to listen to her friend.  
  
  
“I KNOW SANS WAS ALWAYS PROTECTING ME FROM THE TRUTH... EVER SINCE BACK THEN. HE ALWAYS TRIED HIS BEST TO MAKE ME HAPPY.” said Papyrus with a nod. He was smiling softly at the time, genuinely. “LIKE THE TIME I ASKED HIM IF WE HAD PARENTS, OR... OR WHAT THAT STRANGE THING IN HIS WORKSHOP WAS. HE NEVER TOLD ME... BUT I KNEW HE WAS HIDING SOMETHING. I DIDN'T PRESS ON. I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO FEEL HURT...”  
  
  
“Pap...” Undyne looked touched as she heard this. She stood up from her seat and then hugged Papyrus from behind, as in a friendly kind of hug.  
  
  
“...” Papyrus smiled at this. “I DON'T MIND IT AT ALL. I KNOW SANS IS JUST DOING IT FOR ME. YES, HE'S LAZY BUT... I KNOW HIM. HE'S MY BROTHER. HE ACTS THIS WAY FOR A REASON THAT... MAYBE EVEN I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY, BUT I WILL ALWAYS UNDERSTAND MY BROTHER.”  
  
  
Undyne kept on hugging her friend. He was indeed a cinnamon roll, as she felt that he was too pure for anyone. This was why they became friends; because he felt genuinely kind and pure-hearted. She felt that the world needed more people like him. This was also why Sans approved of their friendship; he was protective over him yes, but he knew that Undyne chose to be friends with him for the same reason he kept the truth from his own brother.  
  
  
“THANKS, UNDYNE.” said Papyrus. He looked up at her and then patted her head as he grinned. “YOU'RE A GREAT FRIEND! WELL, WE CAN'T JUST SIT HERE DOING NOTHING RIGHT? HOW ABOUT WE MAKE SPAGHETTI FOR EVERYONE TONIGHT?? EVERYONE MUST BE TIRED BY THEN WORKING ON THESE THINGIES!”  
  
  
The fish woman smiled at this and then nodded. She parted from him and then took a deep breath before she put her hands to her hips. “GET UP FROM YER BONY BUTT AND MAKE SOME MORE SPAGHETTI!”  
  
  
“ROGER, MON CAPITAN!” Papyrus laughed and then ran over to the kitchen counter so that they could start making some more spaghetti.  
  
  
***  
  
  
Meanwhile in the robots' room...  
  
  
Madsta was lying down on the bed to get some rest; Napstablook was just sitting on the side of the bed so that he can watch over the other. He sadly looked down at the red robot as he looked at his injuries...  
  
  
“Hey, don't sweat it. It was my fault I didn't disassemble myself when I needed to.” Madsta chuckled a little, his voice somewhat glitching. “I know Sans and Alphys will find a way to get these wires back together later on. They just told me to wait a little since they were getting things ready.”  
  
  
“Madsta...” Napstablook started to cry as he held the other's hands with both of his own. “I'm sorry...”  
  
  
“What? For what??” Madsta seemed alarmed. He tried to get up just to comfort the other robot. Thankfully he was able to sit upright even without any help and then he started to pat the other robot's back to calm him down. “None of this was your fault, okay? It's nobody's fault... cept for who kidnapped our cousins in the first place.”  
  
  
“...” Napstablook just nodded and then hugged the other robot tightly. He seemed to calm down a little, knowing that he wasn't alone in this. But he was still rather pained inside just thinking that his cousin was made to do such things. Seeing Mettaton in such a state... it pained him so much. Seeing that he wasn't able to save him that moment... made him feel even worse.  
  
  
“...” Madsta felt a little awkward since he wasn't always good at things like these, but he tried anyway. “Uh... you know, it's not bad to cry. Just cry it all out on me, okay? I'll be here for you.”  
  
  
The red robot tried to think if what he had said was the right thing. He was afraid that the blue robot would take it the wrong way... but thankfully, he didn't seem to. He just kept on crying for what seemed to be minutes til he finally parted away from Madsta and then nodded at him.  
  
  
“Thank you...” said Napstablook. He looked up at the other sadly and then got up to find something from the closet. He took out his sweater, as he left it back in their room before they went out on their mission from earlier. He decided to wear it as he went back to sit beside his ghost-bot companion.  
  
  
Everything was awkwardly quiet til Madsta couldn't keep himself from asking. “Hey uh... Napsta? Why do you seem so fond of that sweater?”  
  
  
He tried to keep himself from any other comments for fear he may say something tactless. He found that the sweater seemed too baggy for him and that it wasn't really the best-crafted sweater he had ever seen. In fact, it looked rather plain and somewhat... bland, to an extent. The design was only a music note and the measurements didn't seem right for his petit build.  
  
  
“Oh.......” Napstablook looked down at his sweater and then to his overgrown sleeves. “Well... you see, Pinky gave this to me.”  
  
  
“Where did he buy it?” Madsta asked to keep the conversation flowing.  
  
  
“He didn't. He made it for me from scratch...” Napstablook nodded. He seemed to like talking about it. “He told me he tried to make one himself... then he told me well... it was hard to make one. He told me that he based it on his own measurements should I decide to get a body myself someday... he had expected me to be a bit... taller.”  
  
  
Napstablook giggled a little, though the sadness was still in his tone.  
  
  
“But.... I'm short. Really short.” Napstablook wiggled his legs a little and then looked at them.  
  
  
“You could have asked to be a bigger robot, you know?” commented Madsta as he looked down at him. “Why did you choose to be small?”  
  
  
“... I like being small. I'm more versatile that way.” Napstablook said as he stared down at his sleeves again. He seemed to change the topic. “Pinky was so happy when I first tried this on... i-if anything happens, this is one of the things I'll always remember him by. I can't risk this getting damaged...”  
  
  
Madsta seemed to understand his companion better. He began to remember such instances when the other suddenly took off his sweater... those times when he would fight, or some times when he would do something strenuous. There was also that time when the oil partially contaminated his systems that he locked on him when he was still a ghost... he took off his sweater before he took off.  
  
  
... Even when corrupted, there was still a part of him active. That part had to be the fact that Mettaton was held so dearly in his heart that he still held such high importance for the sweater. He must have held the sweater so dearly for him to take good care of it no matter what...  
  
  
“I think the sweater looks great on you.” said Madsta as he wrapped an arm around the robot and then touched the excess parts of the floppy sweater sleeve. He chuckled a little at this; his opinion of the sweater suddenly changed upon hearing his story. “Say, Napstablook uh... while waiting, do you...”  
  
  
“... Want to talk about Pinky?” Napstablook said. He was blushing a little as the other held him close. “Sure.”  
  
  
“...” Madsta was a little embarrassed that the other completed his sentence. “Yeah. Then... maybe I'll tell you a little about Shysta and I, if you want?”  
  
  
“Shysta...” the blue robot's face softened a little. “They... they're really close to you, huh? You two remind me of Pinky and I...”  
  
  
“Yeah... hehe. Though I was the worst cousin, you know? I forgot their name... but when they got angry with me after I felt your acid tears well... I couldn't forget their name anymore. It's stuck in my mind now.” Madsta laughed a little at this. “I'm so stupid. Ahahahaha.”  
  
  
Napstablook giggled at this and then looked up at him. “Well, you kinda are.”  
  
  
“Gee thanks!” Madsta chuckled a little at this. He seemed happier seeing his companion finally light up a little from the earlier traumatic incident. He could tell that Napstablook wasn't at all 100% fine, but he was happy to somehow help lift up his spirits.  
  
  
Napstablook giggled a little and then he looked up at him once more and held his hands. “You wanted to learn more about Pinky and I... right?”  
  
  
“...” Madsta blushed and then nodded at this. He could tell that his companion was finally comfortable enough to be telling him their story. He was finally going to learn more about the quiet ghost-robot...  
  
  
They both held their hands and connected their networks... as the blue robot started to narrate their lives together.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The setting was back in the Underground, near the Waterfall area where they had resided. This was all too familiar to any Underground ghost... some of them lived by the garbage side where Madsta and his cousins were, while the other more privileged ghosts like Napstablook lived in actual houses by the serene Waterfall area away from the garbage dump. This was probably one of the reasons why Madsta feels a little... intimidated by his ghost companion to an extent. He felt somewhat insecure being with a more privileged ghost... but he tried not to let the other find out.  
  
  
Napstablook was just in his house, mixing their tunes. It seemed like a normal day for them to be making remix tapes... when actually it wasn't. There was a family reunion of the two ghost clans outside; the Blook clan and the Spook clan. The former was somewhat more financially stable than the other, such that more refinement and manners seemed to have emanated from them thanks to their more sheltered lives, while the latter felt a little more streetwise, knowing the streets and dumps of the Underground a little better.  
  
  
“Napstablook!” one of the ghosts called out. It seemed like a familiar tone... that's right, it sounded a lot like Mai from back in the dead alley of Monster City. “Napstablook, come out of there! Everyone's outside!”  
  
  
Napstablook heard this but he shook his head and felt a little anxious that they stopped making his mix tape and looked up at the ceiling. He didn't want to go out and mingle with different ghosts. There was a trap door in the ceiling... he decided to fly to it, but Mai managed to phase through their door.  
  
  
“Hey, I'm talking to you!” said Mai as she flew to grab the sound mixer's stubby hands. “Come on! There are so many other ghosts we want you to meet outside! See how you could meet uh... hmm... there's a shy ghost like you out there! He's with his... oh, I don't like his cousin that much. He's too loud-mouthed and brash. I could tell by the scar above his eye.”  
  
  
“Hey!” Madsta said from the real world as he commented on the flashback. His robot companion just giggled at this as the flashback continued.  
  
  
“i don't want to........” Napstablook shook his head and felt a little scared. “I don't want to, spaceblook..........”  
  
  
“UGH. I don't know what to do with you! All our other cousins are outside and you're just here-” Mai sounded exasperated. They didn't know what to do to get the anxious ghost outside to mingle... while they tried to think, both ghosts heard another voice.  
  
  
“Hey, what's going on here?”  
  
  
“OH. MY. GOSH. FRIENDSTABLOOK. Thank goodness you're here! Try talking to your cousin, okay? Napstablook doesn't want to go out! OH MY GOSH. I feel so exasperated right now.” Mai rolled their eyes. “You know your snails more than anyone, so go out there and tell them all about it!”  
  
  
Friendstablook was a sweet pink ghost with a wavy lock over their delicate ghostly eye. They flipped their lock a little before they floated over to the shy ghost mixer and smiled a little. “... Mai, why so formal? You could always just call him Nappy like you always did?”  
  
  
“Because we have different ghosts outside! It's going to be embarrassing for you if I called you Franny and Nappy.” Mai smirked. “Unless you two want me to call you that?”  
  
  
“Ew, no.” Friendstablook rolled their eyes and then smirked. “I'll take care of things here, okay? Just go outside and entertain the guests. We're the hosts, after all.”  
  
  
“See ya laterrrrr~” Mai said as they floated away and phased through the door, finally leaving the two ghosts alone.  
  
  
“... Blooky, what's wrong?” said the pink ghost as they gently held the other's stubby ghost hands and they both went to sit on the ground near the wall by the other's computer system.  
  
  
“t-there's too many people out there......... i can't” Napstablook shook their head and felt colder than usual. Ghosts were regularly cold but... they felt colder when tense. “i don't want to........”  
  
  
“You're afraid they'll laugh at you?” the pink ghost looked at him worriedly.  
  
  
The shy ghost just nodded slowly and then looked away. The pink ghost held their hand tighter in reassurance and then just smiled at this.  
  
  
“Why would they laugh at you? Unless of course, you're sharing a joke. Come on, Blooky! We'll be out there together talking about snails! You love snails, don't you?” the pink ghost giggled a little.  
  
  
“you don't understand, pinky.........” said the shy ghost who had been called Blooky. “i don't want to go out there and mingle.......... it's awkward”  
  
  
The ghost who had been called Pinky just sighed with a smile at this. “Blooky, if anyone knows these snails the most, it's you. Sure other members of our family started this business, but we all know you're very knowledgeable in this field. We want you to finally show yourself and your skills so that we can show the other clan our running business. Don't worry, all you have to do is explain what the different kinds of snails are like! We don't need to talk about the financial aspect. That's Mai's part... and even then, we don't really like talking about it.”  
  
  
“....... i see” Blooky looked a little less tense after hearing their cousin talk. “......... i'll go out......... if you're with me.......”  
  
  
“That's the spirit!” Pinky sounded happy about this and then they hugged the other ghost tightly. “Don't worry, I'll handle the public relations part, okay? I'll assist you, I promise! Just talk about the snails. If anyone raises a question... don't panic! I'll help you. Alright?”  
  
  
“...........” the shy ghost hugged back and cracked a small smile. “alright............ thanks, pinky. you really know what to say.............”  
  
  
“Of course, Blooky...” said the pink ghost as they slowly floated to the door with the shy ghost.  
  
  
As soon as they were out, Mai smiled at them... it seems that they had been waiting for the two all this time. They smiled at them and then floated away to talk to some other guests from the other clan; they seemed to be satisfied with Blooky outside of their house. Pinky smiled at this and then went and then went around with his cousin.  
  
  
There were ghosts everywhere in the grounds; there were some immediately outside of their house, some of them were also by the farm as they looked at the snails gathered round. Someone from the Blook clan was trying to talk about snails, but it seemed that they weren't very good at explaining how snails behaved or acted.  
  
  
“Hey, Blooky and I'll take it from here. Why don't you go accommodate the other guests over there?” Pinky approached their relative and then took over. They beckoned their cousin Blooky to stay by their side.  
  
  
Together, they explained the different kinds of snails they had raised. Pinky was in charge of keeping the guests entertained with their charm and wits, while Blooky served as the “living” encyclopedia of snails as they went along. Their guests from the Spook clan seemed entertained by all this.  
  
  
“Wow! I learned so much about snails today. I think I wanna take care of some.” said someone from the Spook clan.  
  
  
“Maybe we should try running a business too...” said another one as they thought out loud. “Maybe salt business.”  
  
  
“n-no, don't get salt anywhere near the snails!” Blooky seemed to react. “They're allergic to that... you see, when you put salt on a snail they shrivel up. it looks painful... i heard it was because the water is getting drained out of their body real fast......”  
  
  
“When you do run salt business, we will not form an alliance.” Pinky tried to humour them.  
  
  
“MY SNAIL'S SO SLOW! THIS IS A RIP-OFF!!”  
  
  
They could hear someone complain by the other side of the farm where snail races where held. A ghost from the Spook clan sounded quite angry and they looked like they were demanding a refund from the Blooks for “ripping off” some cash from them.  
  
  
“My, my. What's going on here?” Pinky raised a brow and then flipped their ghostly lock of hair. They floated away to check out the scene and Blooky followed close.  
  
  
“THIS IS A RIP-OFF! I WANT MY CASH BACK! I COULD'VE BOUGHT MY COUSIN SOME CANDIES WITH THAT INSTEAD!” growled the impatient ghost at one of the Blooks who looked at loss for words.  
  
  
“Then why didn't you?”  
  
  
“Who...??”  
  
  
Pinky floated in front of the angry ghost with a snobbish face. They seemed to raise a brow at the Spook who had complained so much.  
  
  
“You heard me.” Pinky reiterated. “Instead of 'wasting your money' here, why didn't you just buy your cousin some candy?”  
  
  
“DON'T SMART TALK ME, PANSY!” growled the other ghost.  
  
  
“Oh my, was that too intellectual for you? Fine, I'll dumb it down for the likes of you.” said Pinky with a smirk. “WASTE. MONEY? BUY. CANDY. COUSIN. INSTEAD.”  
  
  
“WHY I OUGHTA-”  
  
  
“no!” Blooky went between Pinky and the other ghost. They looked a little “firm” about this, yet somewhat scared and unsure. “pinky... that was a little too much. a guest is a guest, no matter what. and um... Spook... san? Spook-san, umm... i'm sorry if we disappointed you. but please do not disturb the other guests as well... okay?”  
  
  
The angry ghost seemed to have gotten themself embarrassed. They just stared at the apologetic ghost with a flustered face and then floated away. As soon as they were gone, Blooky looked back at Pinky.  
  
  
“... Wow, Blooky. I don't know how you do it but... you're really good at this.” Pinky looked surprised.  
  
  
“heh......... it's nothing, pinky” Blooky smiled at them. “next time, try not to be too aggressive, okay? if we can solve things in a calmer manner... let's try that first.”  
  
  
“... Okay.” Pinky smiled at their cousin. “I just couldn't stand seeing them yell at one of our relatives like that. I wanted to slap them in the face!”  
  
  
“well...... that's life. let's just not add fuel to the fire i guess........” Blooky smiled and looked a little calmer. “um........ so we can have snail races now, right?”  
  
  
“Yep! Okay, everyone! THUNDERSNAIL IS STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS! Line up now and see who gets to be the lucky winner of the grand prize! Don't miss a chance to watch your snail in action! Don't forget to encourage them, darlings~” Pinky floated around and smiled at this. While they tried to talk the Spooks into betting for their snails, Blooky took care of the instructions as to how to treat their snail in a race.  
  
  
***  
  
  
“...” Madsta was speechless from outside of the flashbacks. He and Napstablook were still holding hands as the flashbacks played in the blue robot's hard drive.  
  
  
“Is anything wrong, Maddie?” asked the white-haired robot.  
  
  
“Geez, I sounded so much like a jerk.” Madsta looked embarrassed. “I couldn't even remember you... but well, I somewhat do! It's just that my memory's horrible. I just remember that you were one of the rare people who tried to talk to me calmly despite my temper...”  
  
  
“Sometimes you just have to calm down and listen...” said Napstablook with a smile.  
  
  
“Yeah...” Madsta sighed and then smiled back. “I almost forgot those annual ghost clan meetups. The year before that, we had to show your clan around the garbage dump and how wonderful it was. Alright... uh. Anything else you got there?”  
  
  
Napstablook nodded. “I have memories of when Pinky and I were the only ones left in our farm....... it was really sad. Having memories of the farm with so many ghosts like that and then... everyone just sort of... leaves, to become training dummies. I thought it was just our clan but... seems that your clan decided to be dummies too.”  
  
  
“We're all a bunch of dummies, eh?” Madsta sighed as he felt for the melancholic ghost-robot. “Sorry you had to deal with that...”  
  
  
“H-Hey, it's fine. Nothing to apologise about... I mean, we all get to decide what we want to do with our lives. It's our own lives after all...” Napstablook sighed. He held Madsta's hands tighter and then began to play some other flashbacks.  
  
  
***  
  
  
The scenery was the ghost farm. It was once inhabited by the Blook family, but now it was virtually empty... not even ghosts decided to live in it save for a couple of them.  
  
  
“Ahahahahahahahaha. Ahuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuha.”  
  
  
Pinky was laughing to themself as they put the snails on top of their face and then they all slowly sunk through them and down to the ground as they were incorporeal. They rinsed and repeated the process...  
  
  
Blooky was just sitting beside Pinky as they watched them do this. They were the only ghosts who were left to take care of the family business, but they seemed happy and content with each other's company. Pinky kept on laughing to themself as they played with the snails. They got up with snails on their face and then giggled as they turned their face to their cousin.  
  
  
“Blooky, look! I got to keep them on this time!” Pinky giggled and almost snorted before the snails started to phase through them and then fell to the ground. The pink ghost only giggled at this.  
  
  
“that was a record........ ten seconds, i think?” Blooky smiled at this.  
  
  
“Yeah, but Shyren's the best at this! She can hold them for like, minutes!!” Pinky exclaimed.  
  
  
“because she's not a ghost....... but she sure feels like one” Blooky remarked. “she doesn't feel too scary to be with unlike that fish girl with the red hair..........”  
  
  
“Is she still picking on you??” the pink ghost looked somewhat protective and then growled a little. “Why I oughta-”  
  
  
“n-no, she's just kidding okay? i'm sure it's a fish girl thing....... maybe............ heh. i know she's just trying to be friendly......”  
  
  
“Well... if you say so. Though I'm not sure if Shyren has weird tendencies like that... nobody hurts Blooky! No. Bo. Dy.” said Pinky with a pout and then they scoffed. “Seriously though, the only person I do trust outside of the family is Shyren. I don't really care much for other people...”  
  
  
“..... you too, huh?” Blooky slightly smiled. “i..... guess we do have so many things in common after all.....”  
  
  
“Why do you think we got along so well, Blooky?” Pinky giggled. “You know me~ no matter how extroverted I may feel like, I'm still considered an introvert by societal standards.”  
  
  
“...” Blooky smiled at Pinky and then just stared down at the snails. “... Pinky.”  
  
  
Pinky looked at their cousin and their laugh started to slowly trail away. They could see the shift in their cousin's expression... that look in their eyes, the sudden dissipation of joy in their face and tone... the pink ghost knew that something was up.  
  
  
“What is it, Blooky?” Pinky asked as they stopped playing with the snails.  
  
  
“... pinky, are you....... going to be corporeal like everyone else...?” Blooky asked them and then looked down at the ground.  
  
  
“...” Pinky didn't know what to think. The way their cousin sounded so... resigned, gave them a little pang in their little ghostly heart. They floated over slowly and then snuggled against the melancholic ghost to cheer them up a little. “Come on, Blooky. You know I'd never leave you behind. And besides... I'd never find the kind of body I'm looking for, anyway.”  
  
  
Blooky looked a little comforted as they snuggled back to their cousin. “... Cousins forever....?”  
  
  
“BEST cousins FOREVER whatchu talkin about, Blooky!” Pinky giggled and floated a little above the other ghost to rub their head a little playfully.  
  
  
Blooky giggled at this and then picked up a snail and put it on Pinky's hand, but it started to phase down again. They both giggled to themselves and began floating around the snail farm... as if playing a ghostly tag. When they had enough of floating around, they giggled to themselves as they floated right in front of their houses.  
  
  
“Blooky... let's go pay Shyren a visit tomorrow, okay?” Pinky said and then sighed a little. “She doesn't feel too good...”  
  
  
“oh..........” Napstablook looked a little sad. “y-you're right........ poor shyren............”  
  
  
“I'll try making her some food tonight! I can cook well! Now if only I have some ingredients in the fridge...” said the pink ghost as they thought about it a little. “I'm sure I can make something!”  
  
  
“.... alright, then i'll make her some special ghost sandwiches.......” Blooky said. They looked so sad and worried all of a sudden, and it didn't look like it was just because of Shyren. They just sighed and then tried their best to crack a smile at their pink cousin before they waved goodbye to go inside their house.  
  
  
“Hey!” Pinky giggled and then hugged their cousin tightly. “You know the routine! We can't say goodbye without a hug!”  
  
  
Blooky giggled a little at this and then hugged back. “sorry...........”  
  
  
Pinky giggled then parted from them. “See you tomorrow! Get those sandwiches ready and I'll get whatever ready!”  
  
  
The ghosts nodded at each other and proceeded to their own homes to sit back and relax, or do what they need to do. Blooky started mixing some music again and made some sandwiches from time to time, Pinky started writing in their diary before looking at their fridge and to try and decide what to cook for the next day. Eventually, they did find some ample ingredients to cook up some stir fry ghost veggies.  
  
  
It wasn't too long before the ghosts had to retire to their rooms. You see, their houses were divided into three floors; the first floor was their reception room which was frequently visited by visitors, even some humans, the second floor was their own bedrooms and... “bathrooms” for anything personal they need to do like fixing themselves up for an occasion, and the third floor was dedicated to their attic. Pinky technically has two beds... they didn't know that beds and couches were different from each other.  
  
  
The windows of their houses were just across each other; so that meant they could see each other from their rooms when the curtains aren't down. When they were both up in their own rooms and on their own beds, they waved at each other and then grabbed their own tiny whiteboards. They started to scribble in it until one of them was done.  
  
  
Pinky showed what they had written in their whiteboard. “HELLOOOOOO BLOOKY ♥”  
  
  
Blooky giggled and then showed their cousin what they had written in their whiteboard as well. “helloooooo”  
  
  
They both giggled at their antics and then Pinky tried to sketch up something in response. They were finally done and then they showed what they had doodled on their board. It was a winking smile with a heart with the word “Darling~” written just beside it in beautiful cursive penmanship.  
  
  
The other ghost smiled at this and then wrote another response. They showed what they had drawn. It was a doodle of a ghost with a top hat with the phrase, “charmed to meet you”  
  
  
Pinky couldn't stop giggling at this, moreso when they looked at the doodle again. They had just noticed there were tiny headphones on the scribbled ghost despite it wearing a top hat. They floated from their bed and then made a little curtsy for their dapper cousin; to which their cousin responded similarly with a gentlemanly bow.  
  
  
They both giggled at each other and then they scribbled on their whiteboards again.

 

  
  
Pinky showed their whiteboard with a smile. On it was the word “goodnight ♥” in the same beautiful cursive penmanship that they had always written in. They had drawn hearts and stars to make their greeting even cuter.  
  
  
Blooky gave a small smile at this and then showed their whiteboard with a smile as well. They also greeted them with a “goodnight” with doodles of stars and what looked like planets according to their own imagination. They both giggled as they waved each other goodnight. They were about to cover their windows for the night; Blooky with their blinds and Pinky with their lacy pink curtains, but they peeked one last time to wave at each other before they really had to go and turn off their lights.  
  
  
It seemed that ghosts may need to recharge after all; the way they recharge is quite different from monsters as they don't need all eight hours of sleep. Rather, they seemed to need their “sleep” to be able to face their next day with a better temperament and a more stable mind.  
  
  
***  
  
  
“You were so close to him...” said Madsta as they were still holding hands and sharing memories.  
  
  
“Yes...”  
  
  
“... Napsta. Earlier you mentioned about being corporeal. You didn't sound like you liked the idea... but...” Madsta didn't know how to put his thoughts into words. “Um... despite that, you're a robot now.”  
  
  
“...” the blue robot didn't know how to answer. “Let's just say... I have my own reasons. Anyway... after that day, we decided to go to Shyren and cheer her up. Her sister had fallen down and... well, we're not sure how to help. We just spent the day with her. Pinky was such a ray of sunshine...... even if Shyren and I barely smiled and laughed with him, he's so... happy and bubbly..... honestly, he kept us going.”  
  
  
“I could totally see him as the ray of sunshine and you as the voice of reason.” Madsta nodded. “Shyren... her name sounds familiar.”  
  
  
“She lives around the waterfall too... remember that one concert with the human around the waterfall? We had toilet paper for tickets...”  
  
  
“OH. OH I REMEMBER. Oh my gosh...” Madsta blushed a little. “She looked like a cinnamon roll... and... wait, the seller of the tickets...?”  
  
  
“It was Sans.” Napstablook giggled a little. “I used to call him Mr. Sans, but he didn't like it. Thanks to him and Frisk, Shyren got a little more recognised. She's so sweet... I'd like you two to meet sometime.”  
  
  
Madsta smiled at this and then nodded. “I hope you don't mind me asking but... when did you two decide to be robots?”  
  
  
“...”  
  
  
There was an awkward silence in the room. Napstablook didn't seem to want to answer it and was tempted to let go of Madsta's hands, but the other held onto him. He looked worried for the blue robot... he looked like he just remembered something horrible.  
  
  
“Napsta...” Madsta looked at him worriedly. “Please look at me... what happened?”  
  
  
“I...” Napstablook began to cry again and turned his head away, as he shied from the other even more. “I don't want to....... oh no......”  
  
  
“I understand if you don't want to talk about it... I'm sorry if I'm forcing you to. But if you want to... I'm all ears.” said Madsta as he held his hands gently but less firmly.  
  
  
Napstablook pulled his hands away and just covered his face as he cried. “oh no........ i thought i got over it........ oh no.... oh no he's going to leave me again....... this is why he left me....... this is why he wanted to kill me.....”  
  
  
“Napsta...” Madsta held his shoulders firmly. “Look at me. Napsta. He didn't do that on his own accord. He will NEVER do that to you. I don't know him as much as you do but... I know he will never do that. He will never leave you... nor will I.”  
  
  
“Pinky left me.... don't you get it.... he left me.......” Napstablook looked up at him and cried. “I know he said sorry but... it's not his fault, I don't feel horrible because he left me. I felt horrible because I was such a horrible cousin and I.... I wasn't good enough and I......”  
  
  
Madsta held his shoulders even more firmly and gave him a slight glare; it looked quite intimidating, but it didn't look like he did it out of anger. He drew him to a tight and reassuring hug. “Napstablook... whatever made you think that way about yourself... whatever made you think that he left you because you were never good enough... is not true.”  
  
  
“I read it from his diaries...”  
  
  
“... What did he say in his diaries?”  
  
  
“That his dreams can't wait for anyone...”  
  
  
“...”  
  
  
Madsta held him even more tightly and leaned down a little more to be able to somewhat lean his face on the other's shoulder.  
  
  
“I was holding him back from his dreams... t-that's why.... that's why I feel so...... so horrible......... I wish I was a better cousin...”  
  
  
“But you are.” said Madsta. “You're the best cousin he could ever hope to have. You were there to calm him down when he needed you the most. And you.... you're doing all of this for him, aren't you?”  
  
  
“...”  
  
  
Napstablook parted a little from him so that they can hold hands again. He closed his eyes and tried to connect with the other's network so he can share more memories with the other. For some reason... he felt comfortable opening up to the other. Maybe it was because they had both been ghosts who were able to relate to each other?  
  
  
They were finally able to connect once more...  
  
  
***  
  
  
“pinky? pinky.......”  
  
  
Blooky can be seen standing outside of the pink ghost's house. They waited patiently, for maybe they were just out again. Just a week ago, their cousin had made a human fans club meeting near the opening of Waterfall just near where the Spook clan resided; the garbage dump. They didn't want to interrupt their cousin and they needed to watch over the snails, so they weren't able to attend. Their cousin knew of that, anyway.  
  
  
They did see one attendee that made them happy someone actually obliged to their cousin's club. Usually ghosts like them would be ignored for whatever reason.  
  
  
But ever since that, they'd been seeing less and less of Pinky...  
  
  
Since then, Pinky would usually be too busy going out of their house and would only return to rest. They wanted to sometimes talk with them, but they could only do so when they were upstairs in their room with their whiteboards.  
  
  
It pained them, but as long as Pinky was happy they kept it all in. Sometimes they would talk to Shyren instead so they wouldn't feel so lonely... but it just wasn't the same.  
  
  
When they waited long enough, they knocked on the door of the pink ghost again.  
  
  
“pinky...... pinky, are you alright in there?”  
  
  
... Still no response. They were beginning to get worried. They tried to twist the knob to check if the door was locked... it wasn't. They were able to go in without a problem. This only worried them even more... why did Pinky leave their house unlocked? They looked around the adorably adorned pink house of their cousin to look for them...  
  
  
They weren't in the first floor, so they decided to float around the second and third floor. They couldn't find them. Not under the bed, or in the bathroom, or even in the attic... they weren't playing hide and seek; Pinky was nowhere to be found.  
  
  
When they floated down the first floor again, they noticed something... odd.  
  
  
Pinky left their house key on their bed. There seemed to be a small letter attached to it...  
  
  
It read, “blooky... i'm sorry.”  
  
  
This alarmed them, of course. They didn't know what to think. Ghosts can't die, ghosts can't get hurt, so... what did this all mean?? They floated down to the ground and laid down helplessly as they didn't know what to think or do. Why would their cousin suddenly act like this? And... where are they?  
  
  
...  
  
  
As much as they didn't want to invade anybody's privacy, they saw their cousin's diaries laid out on the ground as they lied down. They floated back up and came near them... and opened an entry very hesitantly. The first entry read:

 

> _“Dear Diary: Shyren's sister "fell down" recently. It's sad. Without her sister to speak for her... she's become more reclusive than ever. So I reached out to her, and told her... that she, Blooky, and I should all perform together sometime. She seemed to like that idea.”_

  
  
They were a little sad reading it, as they remembered why they paid a visit to Shyren not too long ago. Poor Shyren... she definitely needed help but... ever since that incident, she's become more reclusive as ever and sometimes refused even their company. It was painful to see her in such a state but... thank goodness lately they were able to talk with her a little more. They looked at the other diaries...  
  
  
The second entry read:

 

> _“Dearer Diary: I like to buy a new diary for every entry I make. I love to collect diaries.”_

  
  
Blooky giggled a little. This sounded so much like their cousin... and this is exactly what they liked from them. They decided not to waste any more time... they proceeded to float to the next diary entry.  
  
  
The third entry read:

 

> _“ Dearest Diary: Our cousin left the farm to become a training dummy. That leaves just Blooky and I. Blooky asked me if I was going to try to become corporeal, too. They sounded so... resigned... come on, Blooky. You know I'd never leave you behind. And besides... I'd never find the kind of body I'm looking for, anyway.”_

  
  
A training dummy... everyone decided to be training dummies, as it was tradition for ghosts to fulfill their “destinies” to be corporeal. Honestly, they didn't really see the logic as to why they think that a ghost's life is fulfilled and when, and only when, they decide to be corporeal. It was ridiculous to pressure someone into being corporeal when they don't want to, in their opinion. They thought that being corporeal or not was fine, as long as neither gets forced on anyone as a general rule. They just sighed and shed a tear at their cousin's last remark about never leaving them behind. It made the feel a little at ease, given the tension they're feeling at the moment.  
  
  
The fourth entry read:

 

> _“My Darling Diary: I met someone... interesting today. Last week I posted that advertisement for my Human Fanclub. Today was our first meeting. Only one other person came. Honestly, she's a dork. And she's obsessed with these awful cartoons. But she's kind of funny, too.... I want to see her again.”_

  
  
...  This happened not too long ago. As they thought... not much monsters paid any attention to their cousin save for this one stranger who had attended. They were happy someone actually paid attention to their cousin, but they can't help but feel suspicious. But in any case, they felt the stranger meant no harm, really... just that ever since that human fans club meeting, Pinky had begun to act... strangely. Like they were out of the house more than they usually were, so that Blooky had to take care of the snail farm on their own most of the time.  
  
  
Blooky looked worried and anxious; they decided to go read the remaining diary entries. There were only two of them left...  
  
  
The fifth entry read:

 

> _“Diary... My dear: My diary collection is going fabulously. I have like five now.”_

  
  
This was so Pinky. However due to the anxiety they feel, they weren't able to giggle at it. They were desperate to find clues about what their cousin may have meant by their own letter.  
  
  
Why on earth would they apologise like that?  
  
  
... It didn't feel right at all.  
  
  
They shakily approached the last entry. As they read it, tears began to slowly trickle down their ghostly cheeks... to the point they soon let out sobs, louder than they intended them to be. They held onto the key tightly when they were done reading... they looked like they didn't know what to do.  
  
  
... The last entry read:

 

> _“Dear Diary: She surprised me with something today. Sketches of a body that she wants to create for me... a form beyond my wildest fantasies. In a form like that, I could finally feel like... 'myself.' After all, there's no way I can be a star the way I am now. Sorry, Blooky. My dreams can't wait for anyone...”_

  
  
...  
  
  
“... Sorry, Blooky. My dreams can't wait for anyone...”  
  
  
***  
  
  
...  
  
  
The memory became more glitched as Napstablook forcefully drew his hands away from his robot companion to cover his face with them. He couldn't stop crying... he looked so pained, that even Madsta couldn't say anything about it. Napstablook just sobbed so hard to himself; he didn't care how hard he sobbed for once.  
  
  
Madsta tried to reach out for him, but he hesitated and just stayed where he sat. Seeing his friend cry like this was painful... he was used to seeing him cry honestly, but this time, the way they cried... the way they sobbed and whimpered... it made them want to cry as well. Especially with the painful memory they had just shared...  
  
  
Despite the pain from the injuries they had earlier, they limply crawled towards the sorrowful robot and then slowly drew them to a hug. The other fought back at first, but they decided to just break down and cry on the bigger robot.  
  
  
“Napstablook...” Madsta said softly as he ruffled his hair gently to calm him down. “Shhh... Napstablook, even if you did read them that way... I...”  
  
  
“he left me because i was horrible..........”  
  
  
“Napsta...” Madsta rubbed their back a little to calm them down. “Shh... that's not true. You're the nicest little ghost I've ever seen next to Shysta. Why do you think I don't have the guts to yell at you?”  
  
  
“.........”  
  
  
“Napsta... I'll say it. Your cousin was... horrible.” growled Madsta, but fearing a reaction from the other, he held him more tightly and added an explanation. “But I know that he wouldn't leave you just for that. He came back for you, right? And... from what you shared with me, it looks like he cherishes you more than anything or anyone in the world. I guess... he just got caught up in the moment.”  
  
  
“...... well.... yes, maybe.... but...... oh no.............” Napstablook couldn't reply. They weren't able to react negatively at all, to Madsta's relief. He just continued to cry til he was feeling a little better. “.......”  
  
  
“... Listen.” Madsta parted from him to smile at him kindly. “I'll tell the others that you can't come down for dinner. Okay? Would you want me to get you some food?”  
  
  
“....... b-but....” Napstablook felt ashamed. Madsta was limp at the time because of his injuries that he had to use a wheelchair to get around before Alphys and Sans get to fix his parts and reinforce them with stronger armour. “n-no....... it's fine, i can go downstairs.”  
  
  
“The person he left you for... it's Dr. Alphys, isn't it?” asked Madsta before he got up on his wheelchair. He looked up at the blue robot who had just stood up to assist him.  
  
  
“... yes.” said Napstablook sadly. “but i don't feel anything towards her... honestly i'm glad she made my cousin feel wanted.......”  
  
  
Madsta looked up at him and it hurt to see him like this. He stared into his eyes and saw no jealousy towards Alphys; in fact, the way he interacted with her looked like they had a healthy friendship. He held the other's hands albeit a little shy and awkward; he still wasn't too keen on being forward towards the meek robot. “And I'm proud of you.”  
  
  
“.......” Napstablook just cracked a small, tearful smile at him. They broke contact not long after so that the shy robot can push the injured robot's wheelchair going downstairs so that they could join the others.  
  
  
“Napsta... maybe later on, I can share my story with you too. You know... just to be fair to you.” Madsta said as they went through the corridors together. “Right now, we need fuel. Um... huh. Why do we need to eat? Can't we just sleep and recharge by plugging ourselves to an outlet?”  
  
  
“Well...” Napstablook seemed to sound a little better from before. “This is how we work from what I see... our trance mode allows us to defragment our hard drives and delete unwanted trash files. Sleeping helps us rest our engines and restore fuel... Doctor gave us the function to eat should we need to fuel up on the go; if we have no time to rest through sleep mode.”  
  
  
“...... I think I get it. So it's just an additional feature, right?” asked Madsta. “If we choose to, we don't need to eat...”  
  
  
“Our batteries last a day or two... if we use wifi too much, our battery consumption is almost twice... if I'm not mistaken?” the blue robot thought out loud. “Anyway, eating with them is also pretty good I guess...... so that we can somehow bond with them?”  
  
  
They were finally in front of the escalators they use to get to and fro their rooms... the blue robot left Madsta's side for a while and bent over to push a button just by the engines operating its machinery. The escalator steps have flattened so that it operated as a walkalator which was friendly for Madsta's wheelchair. He returned to him with a smile and gently pushed his wheelchair to the walkalator.  
  
  
“..... How does food not get in our circuits?” Madsta began to talk again.  
  
  
“Doctor talked about that before......” Napstablook tried to recall. “She said that it was essential for us to chug down water or oil to cleanse our systems after eating. It also helps the digestion process... if I remember correctly, she said that our food gets burned down chemically with our systems. Pinky... Pinky didn't always have this feature and was only added until only recently, before we met you. In fact, he told me that Doctor always scolded him for eating because it contaminated his circuits... there was this one time I cried because I thought he was going to die from eating... ehehe. He was so stubborn...”  
  
  
“Oh.” said Madsta as they became conscious about their own body. “Wow... they really did a good job on us.”  
  
  
“Yes... honestly I felt a little guilty asking for a robot body from Doctor...” Napstablook sighed. “She did it in a week. I think lately, she's been working on robot bodies to enhance her skills in making them.”  
  
  
“And Sans? Who the hell is he anyway?” asked Madsta as he tried to look back at the blue robot. “I still have a love-hate relationship with him and his bonehead of a brother though... I do owe him a lot.”  
  
  
“Oh.....” the other giggled a little. “Well, he's a comedian. Honestly I look up to him... I never knew he was a good mechanic as well to be honest. What I did know about him was that he's a comedian back in MTT Resort! He was so funny and confident...”  
  
  
Madsta tilted his head upward so he could try to get a better glimpse at his friend and then he pouted a little. “I see. I-I'm funny too!”  
  
  
“......” Napstablook giggled and then poked his nose. “Of course you are!”  
  
  
The red robot blushed a little at this and then chuckled along. “Welp, we're almost there. Let's go eat with them, eh?”  
  
  
The blue robot smiled at him and then nodded. They both stepped off the walkalator and met up with the others who were setting the table and preparing the dishes...  
  
  
Even though they were all tense and tired that night, they managed to have a hearty meal with each other. They all enjoyed the spaghetti that Undyne and Papyrus had cooked for them. Honestly though, they seemed to be getting better at cooking it. Sans was so proud of his younger brother as he showed him off to the rest of them. He began teasing Madsta as well, who seemed to be prone to blushing whenever the blue robot was around.  
  
  
“alphys, I think his cheek LEDs are broken.” Sans snickered a little as he stared at the red robot.  
  
  
“WHA- _**NO!**_ ” Madsta started and then slammed his palms on the table. “They're not broken, they're fully functional!”  
  
  
“VERY functional.” Sans winked at him. The red robot snarled as he realised that he was just trapped with his own words and growled in defeat as he crossed his arms.  
  
  
Papyrus acted as if nothing happened earlier, and frankly it did surprise everyone but they didn't seem to show any visible reactions so that they can let the matter rest. They all seemed to divert their attention towards the two robots when Sans mentioned them.  
  
  
“we are so great, alphys. look how great we are making these robots.” said Sans as he went over to the two of them and wrapped each of his arms on the two of them. He purposely dragged the two of them to tease them.  
  
  
“H-Hey! YOU DUMMY!” Madsta growled and blushed even harder. “We're trying to eat here!”  
  
  
“Oh no......” Napstablook blushed a little, but decided to continue eating even if he was dragged down.  
  
  
“welp. you two better get some fuel in those bodies of yours. alphys and i'll fix you up later okay?” said Sans as he patted the red robot's shoulder. He leaned in closer and whispered, “thanks for protecting blookster there. you're doing a great job.”  
  
  
“...” Madsta blushed a little at this complement and then nodded at Sans. “No problem.”  
  
  
“right.” Sans winked at him. “the spare bed should come tomorrow... right, alphys?”  
  
  
“...” Alphys tried to keep herself from grinning and just covered her mouth and turned away.  
  
  
“silence means yes. everyone back in mtt studio were a little busy so deliveries come in a little late.” the short skeleton sighed as he went back to his seat. He grabbed a bottle of ketchup and started drinking from it.  
  
  
Madsta looked like he was about to get sick and then just leaned closer to his friend. “Napsta... where do their food go?”  
  
  
“The inner machinations of their bodies are an enigma.” Napstablook answered as he couldn't stop staring at his idol chugging down a ketchup bottle.  
  
  
When they were done eating, Madsta was sent for repairs in Alphys' repair room. Both Sans and Alphys worked on him so that he was repaired as soon as possible; of course, repairs weren't done without a few cusses from the robot here and there. As Alphys had programmed the robots to feel pain (under the prior request from Mettaton to be more... “human-like”), swapping spare parts was a bit of a pain for all of them. Deactivating the sensors was a little hard to do, but they were able to do it using a programme that Alphys had made and developed.  
  
  
Napstablook was left all alone in the room that they have shared as he lied down on the bed and went on trance mode to defragment and clean his hard drive for the day. Eventually, he fell into sleep mode and rested for the night. Too many things happened that day, he was barely able to process it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch out, it's a long chapter. You could've guessed by the title alone since it's about the Blooks.  
> #herecomestheangst
> 
> Looks like we know a little more about the Blooks and Pinky's real name... and more about Madsta's feelings.  
> Please stay tuned for more chapters to come!
> 
> *Honestly the houses having different floors is heavily inspired by the idea of leaf-submas on Tumblr! Check it out here!  
> http://leaf-submas.tumblr.com/post/137423613897/blook-houses-thank-you-for-20000-followers-i


	12. Confusion

###  **Chapter 12: Confusion**

  
  


The past few days were rough on them; actually, a LOT had happened in the course of a few weeks.

  
  


Napstablook went missing to Mettaton's dismay, but it turns out that he surprised him with a new robot body.

  
  


The two cousins decided to get used to this new form of his... which resulted in Napstablook getting some more fans and exposure to national television.

  
  


The Blook cousins met the Spook cousins...

  
  


... and that's when all went down. Shysta went missing, and so did Mettaton but not without acting weirdly around his own cousin...

  
  


... and everything just sort of happened.

  
  


... until Mettaton actually started to hurt Napstablook.

  
  


...

  
  


***

  
  


... The morning light seeped in through the closed blinds of the windows of the robots' room. The night had passed and morning had just begun...

  
  


Madsta opened the blinds of the windows and then peeked out. The morning looked calm and peaceful; the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming... and on days like these, robots like him should be in perfect shape for whatever should happen. He no longer required the aid of a wheelchair since Sans and Alphys took care of his injuries the past night. He sighed as he put his hands to his hips, and then turned his head...

  
  


... to none other than the sleeping Napstablook. The sweet little robot was still under his sheets; he snuggled against his fleece blankets and his bunny plush toy that Papyrus had given to him a couple of days back in the gasoline station. He looked so peaceful...

  
  


Madsta smiled at this and then just walked over to the sleeping robot and gently and somewhat hesitantly shook him by the shoulder. “Napsta? Napsta... Napsta, wake up...”

  
  


“..... Ngh.... five more minutes, Pinky......”

  
  


Madsta just sighed at this with a small smile. He just nudged him again. “Napsta... get up. It's a little late, you know.”

  
  


Napstablook groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He looked up and saw that Madsta was just looking down at him gently. Funny... the last time he woke to his friend like this was when he abruptly woke him up to shout at him.

  
  


“...” Napstablook couldn't help but think of such things as he slowly got up and yawned. He was fully recharged, but he would like to recharge a little more...

  
  


Madsta smiled and then grabbed a tray from the nearby trolley he had just brought in the room as he came in. After all, the crimson robot spent the night in the lab getting his injuries treated by the two experts.

  
  


The tray had a plate of bacon, eggs, a piece of hotdog, and rice to go along with it. There was also a cold glass of water to help flush it all down so that it will be converted into his stored energy should the need arise. He also poured Napstablook a cup of tea he took from the trolley.

  
  


“So... how are you feeling?” asked Madsta as he just sat down on a chair beside his bed.

  
  


“Oh..... I should be asking that to you..... you had rough injuries......” said Napstablook as he looked at him and started to eat his breakfast.

  
  


“I'm fine. I already had breakfast with the others downstairs. We figured you needed the rest with all this sh... I mean, stuff going on.” said Madsta. “Do you like it?”

  
  


“... It's delicious.....” said Napstablook before he took another bite and cracked a smile at him.

  
  


Madsta blushed a little at this and then scratched his head as he avoided eye contact. “Thanks... I-I mean, I'm glad you like it...”

  
  


“....... Wait, YOU cooked this?” asked Napstablook and then he took another bite. “Then it's even more delicious!”

  
  


Madsta couldn't help but blush harder and then he just grabbed a spare tray from the trolley and covered his face partially so that only his eyes had shown. “T-Thanks... eheh... w-well, you need that fuel for a long day! I mean... I think we're going out today. I-I MEAN! On a mission, okay?? Nothing weird!”

  
  


“Oh..........” the blue robot just stared at him and then continued munching on his breakfast. It certainly was a scrumptious breakfast. He was so grateful that Alphys programmed them to have taste sensors... this was so that they will not have a problem whenever they consume food as extra fuel. About the only thing they'll have a problem with is if the bots overeat... but that's less likely since Mettaton had told his cousin to take care of his “carbs”.

  
  


Robots do not put on human weight though. But Mettaton was a full-on human wannabe that he just loves trying to live the way humans do though it wasn't 100% applicable to monsters and robots...

  
  


“Well... when you're done, we should head down and talk to Dr. Alphys.” said Madsta. “I think she wants to talk to us about something.”

  
  


“Oh.... alright.” Napstablook nodded at this and then drank some of his tea after finishing up his breakfast. “Say, Madsta?”

  
  


“Yeah?”

  
  


“... If you don't mind me asking...... where did you get your scar?” asked the blue robot.

  
  


“...” Madsta just stayed quiet for a while. “Yeah, it's weird huh? Ghosts aren't supposed to get hurt like that... hehe. Well truth be told I don't really remember... maybe, eventually, I'll find out and I'll tell you. Okay?”

  
  


The sweet robot just smiled at him and then nodded at this. It looked like the two were finally able to get along much better than before...

  
  


***

  
  


They decided to go down to the lab together. They looked around...

  
  


Alphys looked like she had drunk at least five cups of coffee this morning alone, and Sans looked like he was sleeping soundly as he was slumped on his working table. There were crumpled papers all over his desk... drafting papers, note papers, burger wrappers...

  
  


The reptilian scientist was looking up at the monitor when she heard the two robots walk in the lab.

  
  


“Guys! How was your rest?” she asked.

  
  


She looked so haggard... even more haggard than usual. She had bags under her eyes and looked like her body was going to give up on her soon if she doesn't get some rest. She didn't look like she had any intention to sleep though...

  
  


“W-We're fine, Doctor...” said Napstablook who was clearly worried for her, but decided not to mention it for the time being. “H-How are your researches going?”

  
  


“Guys, I think I may be able to hack into Mettaton's systems. I almost had a signal yesterday til it just sorta... disappeared. Whoever may have kidnapped him knows how to work with machineries and/or robots...” said Alphys as she fixed her glasses. “Luckily, I think you should be able to track him down. Sans and I had been working on these attachments to get your GPS even stronger.”

  
  


She showed them some micro chips in her hands and then instructed them to turn back so she can implant them inside of their systems. After a while, she had installed them successfully and their sense of direction and search functions have improved a great deal.

  
  


“If we try hard enough, we can find Mettaton again and... bring him back...” Alphys said in a tired manner.

  
  


“Doctor, you need rest.” said Madsta as he couldn't keep it in anymore. He looked at her worriedly, and so did the blue robot. “We're going to find him, but promise us that you'll take it easy on yourself okay? Naps and I will find them and these kidnappers.”

  
  


Alphys just let out a tired smile and then she collapsed to the ground. Napstablook was alarmed and then crouched down to check up on her, while Madsta called for Undyne and Papyrus. All of them assisted Alphys to her bedroom and just let her rest there without any disturbance.

  
  


“Geez...” said Undyne. “I'm worried for her. If she keeps this up, she could get seriously sick! Hey you! Yeah you, you dummy.”

  
  


Madsta looked around with a confused face... then he just pointed to himself after seeing that nobody else responded to her.  
  
  
  
“Me?”

  
  


“I've been thinking this for a few days now but... didn't we use to train together? I wasn't sure if you were that training dummy I used to train with.” Undyne said. “But after a few days of you spending your time here, I thought I'd notice that accent of yours anywhere. Or at least, your choice of vocabulary.”

  
  


“...” Madsta looked confused as he just stared at Undyne. He looked like he tried to recall...

  
  


“Don't you remember anything?? Dum-Dum, it's me! Undyne! Great knight, warrior, anime... any of that ring a bell?? We used to play piano together after training??”

  
  


“...” Madsta scratched his head and then looked like he suddenly remembered something. “OH! Okay, now I remember! Yes, I remember now. You were a really good fighter you know?? Damn. OH. I mean... DANG.”

Madsta looked conscious as he remembered that Napstablook was just beside him. He didn't want to be such a potty-mouth around him...

  
  


“WAIT... THAT DUMMY HAD A GHOST IN IT??” Papyrus looked surprised. “AND YOU WERE THAT GHOST?? YOU TRAINED WITH UNDYNE?? WOW, THAT SOUNDED GREAT!!”

  
  


“Yeah, it was. Sometimes we'd cook together so she'd know what to cook with you... if I remember correctly? I don't... really know.” the red robot looked sheepish as he just scratched his head again.

  
  


“And do you remember Napstablook here?” Undyne said as she patted the blue robot's shoulder. “We're neighbours! He'd always be in his house mixing his tunes, if not uh... tending to their snail farm!”

She preferred not to mention the times he spent with Mettaton to avoid any possible triggering.

  
  


“..... Yeah, I remember him.” Madsta sighed and looked like he was in disbelief that he wasn't able to recognise Undyne before she mentioned their affiliation with each other.

  
  


Napstablook looked a little concerned. This wasn't the first time that Madsta acted like this. He looked like... he wasn't at all keen at keeping memories in. He forgot his affiliation with Undyne, he wasn't able to recognise him... he couldn't put a finger on it, but perhaps there's something up as to why Madsta's like this. He decided to let it slip for now so that he wouldn't start anything complex when they should focus on finding Mettaton and Shysta...

  
  


“So uh... what's your course of action now? Pap and I are going to stay here in case anything happens.” said Undyne. “We're keeping guard of the place.”

  
  


“We should probably go around and find our cousins.” said Madsta with a nod. “We'll be back before dark.”

  
  


The two robots looked at each other and nodded. They had to look for any clues. They walked out of the laboratory building in order to be able to think of where they should start looking... they decided that they should start looking in the alley once more for any more clues they may have missed, since that was where they last saw Mettaton. And now that their bodies are reinforced with stronger armour and defence, they feel a little more confident should anything arise.

  
  


...

  
  


Finally they made it to the empty alley where Madsta once lived with all of his cousins... nothing seemed to have changed. It was as dull as ever; compared to a somewhat lively yet ghostly place full of the Spook clan. Madsta looked around sadly, but with determination. His companion tagged along as they searched the place and tried to think of their next move.

  
  


As a force of habit, Napstablook went on this mission without his sweater. He left it at home to keep it safe; it was the only keepsake from his cousin that he could have should things go wrong...

  
  


“Hey, Madsta...”

  
  


Madsta lifted his head from searching the empty boxes to his partner not too far from where he stood. “Yeah, Naps?”

  
  


“... Are you all right?”

  
  


Madsta looked puzzled as to what the blue robot had just asked him. He didn't know what to say and so he just faced him with a curious look.

  
  


“I-I mean..... oh no.......” Napstablook felt so awkward that he opened up a topic. He just bit his lip. “N-Never mind... I-I mean......”

  
  


The red robot walked to him and just looked down at him, waiting for whatever he had to say. “Go on, tell me.”

  
  


“......... I-I mean...... I feel...... I feel horrible that something seems to be bothering you and..... I don't know.....”

  
  


Madsta just stared at him calmly as he stuttered and nervously fidgeted about. He looked like he was about to ask something... personal, from how awkward he had sounded. Shy as he was himself, he gently laid a hand on Napstablook's shoulder and crouched a little to his eye level. “It's alright. You can ask me anything.”

  
  


“......... Okay... Madsta, I-I noticed you.... you looked hurt and... I-I don't know.... whenever my cousin is getting mentioned...” Napstablook started. “I'm just worried...... i-is anything bothering you?”

  
  


“... Was it that noticeable?” Madsta said in a somewhat gentle but dismayed tone and then sighed deeply. He just looked away sadly for a little while before he looked back at his partner. “I'm sorry.”

  
  


Napstablook looked worriedly at him, not knowing what to say. He just kept quiet and waited for what he had to tell him.

  
  


“I guess... I guess I was just mad at the fact that well... he's a star. You're a star. If you go missing, everyone will notice... everyone loves you. You're stars, you're rich, you have power, fame, and love from your fans. I... we, have nothing. And that was proven when everyone was so worried about Mettaton, but not a single person was concerned for our whole clan getting wiped out like that.” Madsta explained. He frowned and he flinched a little explaining this... he clenched his fists and felt horrible... both at the fact that he told all that to his friend and that it was painfully true, at least to his point of view.

  
  


“Madsta...” Napstablook said quietly in a sad tone. “Madsta... I care about you... and your family...”

  
  


Madsta sighed deeply as he looked back at him. “... I know you do.”

  
  


Napstablook just smiled at him. He was a little shy, but seeing how the red robot had it rough... he gave him a hug to help him feel better. The red robot was surprised and was honestly very awkward, but he decided to try and not get too flustered by a friendly hug and just hugged him back. “Thanks, Naps... it feels good to know that I'm not alone...”

  
  


“You're never alone...” Napstablook said. “We have each other.”

  
  


Madsta blushed a little at this and just patted his head in the hug. “Yeah... I guess we do.”

  
  


There was a scream not too far from where they were... and they were alarmed. Napstablook quickly withdrew from the hug and started to analyse where and who it came from. His sensors confirmed it came just a little ways away from them a little further down the alley obscured by the darkness. However, he could not confirm who it could have been... either way, he and Madsta had to see what was going on and help them!

  
  


Napstablook hurried to where he confirmed the scream to be in. Madsta tagged along right behind him... perhaps, if he couldn't save his family from getting captured... he could try to save someone else for now.

  
  


“GET AWAY FROM ME!!”

  
  


The two robots finally arrived to the chaotic scene. The scream was from none other than Mai... they were screaming their head off as they tried to fly away from something...

  
  


... or someone.

  
  


“!!!” the blue robot felt something sinister just hiding in the darkness. He adjusted his vision settings to be able to see what it was...

  
  


Mai was safely able to get to them as they cried hard. “T-That thing... THAT THING! It's trying to...”

  
  


Napstablook gasped in shock and went quiet. “Pinky...”

  
  


“What??” Madsta looked shocked as well.

  
  


The sinister thing... or individual, came out of the shadows. It was indeed Mettaton... again. This time, he looked a little cleaner. The oil dripping from him was very minimal by now; and the lock of hair covering one of his eyes was brushed away a little to reveal his eye actively processing commands. Weapons had been sprouting from his back all the while he strutted out of the shadows, and one of his hands had an arm cannon attached to it. He just stared back at them blankly. “...”

  
  


It hurt Napstablook to see his cousin like this... he just reached out his hand, but Madsta made sure that he was safe and so he stood in front of him.

  
  


“What do you have against GHOSTS?! Why are you doing this?! PINKY. FRIENDSTABLOOK. METTATON... whoever you are... open your eyes!” Madsta yelled at him as he spread his arms to protect his partner.

  
  


“Shut your trap.” Mettaton strutted a little forward, much to the surprise of the two. He was... able to talk normally? “I'm after the ghost. Give them to me.”

  
  


“Huh...? Pinky... why...? They're our cousin... can't you remember that?” asked the quiet robot.

  
  


“Yes. Mai, was it?” said the pink robot.

  
  


… What was going on?! The two robots and the ghost looked utterly confused... they didn't look like they knew what to do at all in such a situation. Mettaton looked perfectly aware of what he was doing. Madsta tried to think of whether or not this was the real Mettaton... but Napstablook confirmed it was. He knew his cousin all too well just by looking at him... his voice... his eyes... those were his cousin's... but why...?

  
  


“Pinky.” Napstablook stepped forward and went to his partner's side. Mai stayed behind the both of them. “What's gotten into you?”

  
  


“Blooky, darling... my dear cousin...” said Mettaton as he strutted a little forward. The red robot kept on guard and then drew out one of his weapons; the small knife/sabre from his arm. “Ah ah, you little ragged doll. Don't you dare. I thought you'd attempt to attack me though... that is impossible.”

  
  


“Stupid. Why the hell would it be impossible??” said Madsta with rage as he prepared a fighting stance.

  
  


“For one, I am Blooky's cousin.” said Mettaton with a smirk. He strutted forward a little more and the same ectoplasm captor from before just slowly sprouted from his back. The same one they assumed to have captured the whole Spook clan...

  
  


“... Naps, I'm sorry.” said Madsta as he flicked the knife to be a sabre made out of light. “But I'm gonna have to hurt him.”

  
  


Napstablook tried to stop him, but he lunged ahead and started to slash around. He wasn't the most graceful fighter there was as he just tried to slash around haphazardly. There was no real progress. All that happened was that Mettaton evaded his attacks gracefully...

  
  


… until something met Madsta's face that made him freeze his attacks.

  
  


“Shysta...?” he mumbled when a cylindrical container was slid in front of his face. It had a SOUL in it... a light green SOUL... and Madsta swore that he saw an image of his cousin flash on the glass.

  
  


This caught him off-guard and Mettaton withdrew the weapons that sprouted on his back so that he could make use of his body's flexibility more efficiently. He performed a handstand, leaned his legs backward so that he could lock Madsta's neck with them, and then smashed him onto the ground. He then performed a back handspring and then landed right on top of the red robot.

  
  


He pinned him down and then smirked down at him. “Say darling, you used to be a ghost too. Or... you still are. You're still not fully corporeal...”

  
  


Madsta tried to push him away, but the pink robot was quick and then he activated the weapons from his back and then metallic tentacles shot down and pinned his arms down to the ground. “Ngh!”

  
  


“There, there darling... stay down.” Mettaton smirked at him and then caressed his face. He then raised his face to look at his own cousins and then the ectoplasm captor rose from Mettaton's back again and started to activate.

  
  


“NAPS! MAI! RUN!!” yelled Madsta as he struggled, but he couldn't break free of Mettaton's grasp.

  
  


Napstablook tried to hold off Mettaton to save Mai, but he was too slow... Mai was starting to get sucked in by the captor, but the blue robot wouldn't have it. As much as it pained him, he opted to tackle his cousin off his friend... but he couldn't. He got distracted the last minute when their eyes met with each other, and Mettaton managed to punch him away. More metallic tentacles slid from his back and pinned Madsta down to the ground by his arms, legs, and torso. When Madsta was secure to the ground, the sinister pink robot slowly rose and stared at the blue robot who had groggily gotten up. He was able to successfully capture Mai, and then his capturing machine retracted once more in his back. This was when he started to dash towards Napstablook...

  
  


He started to send him multiple kicks from different directions; high and low kicks to try and confuse his cousin and look for an opening. Napstablook was able to evade some kicks successfully, but some kicks managed to hit him. Thankfully, their impacts weren't as strong as the kicks he had blocked... however, his block was starting to wear off. Mettaton's kicks were slowly starting to get stronger, and his heels were not helping either.

  
  


Napstablook noticed his heels up close...

  
  


… even they had attached weapons. Mettaton managed to attach guns on his heels. This was deadly especially if he makes one wrong move, he could somewhat trigger them and someone could get hurt...

  
  


“What's the matter, Blooky darling? Cat got your tongue? RAWR!” Mettaton giggled and then managed to back him onto a wall. He pinned him down with his forearm to Blooky's neck. “My my... darling, you've gone corporeal. Oh, this won't do... this won't do at all. I suppose I'll just have to take you and your friend back to ask them what to do with you.”

  
  


“...” Napstablook started to cry... perhaps crying will solve his problems like it always did. His tears started to flow down Mettaton's arm... and it did sting him, much to the latter's anger. The pink robot sought to shut down his systems again, but something tapped his shoulder. And when he turned his head...

  
  


“What the f-”

  
  


He was given a head butt by none other than Madsta and it threw him off to the ground. Apparently, Madsta had detached his head from the rest of his body still pinned down on the ground. His head was floating with a mini rocket propeller from his neck socket.

  
  


His whole body, including his heart, was laced with bluetooth and so as Alphys said, his body was built to be scattered. Though his body has fallen apart, the senses and the control are still centralised as long as the body parts aren't too far apart from each other to lose signal.

  
  


“You forgot I could detach my head just like that, dummy!” Madsta yelled and then he literally turned his head to see the robot. “Naps, get my body free. I'll try to distract him.”

  
  


Napstablook nodded at this, as he felt horrible that he wasn't doing much. He couldn't bear to hurt his cousin... he just couldn't. Even if he needed to...

  
  


He knelt in front of Madsta's body and started to untangle the tentacles wrapping around him and pinning him down. Madsta's head flew around Mettaton much to the annoyance of the latter; just to distract him from getting to the blue robot.

  
  


“Let my cousin go, you creep!” Madsta growled.

  
  


“No... you're coming with him!” Mettaton tried to catch his head. His pupils became... dilated, which creeped Madsta out. He looked like a cat hunting for his prey...

  
  


Napstablook was finally able to get his body free, and then Madsta's head just flew back to his body and attached itself. “Thanks, Naps... now let's go! Let's get Mai out of him...”

  
  


“Darlings... Blooky... can you hear me? Can you really bring yourself to do this...? Blooky darling...” Mettaton looked sadly at him and then walked over to him.

  
  


“Pinky... NO!! Pinky, you'd better stop this or I'll... I'll...”

  
  


“'You'll'... what?” Mettaton raised a brow and looked at him as if challenging him to continue his sentence.

  
  


“...” Napstablook couldn't finish his sentence and so he just prepared his fighting stance. He let out holograms of music notes that hovered around him that acted both as a shield and a cluster of projectiles.

  
  


“... So be it, darling. So be it. Make sure your eye cameras are ready... because there will be REAL DRAMA! REAL ACTION! REAL BLOODSHED!!” Mettaton laughed and then aimed his arm cannon at them. He charged for a shot and then locked on at the blue robot. “Say goodnight, Blooky.”

  
  


Madsta growled at him and then grabbed his own handgun from his abdomen compartment. He aimed the gun at Mettaton's armed hand and shot at it... but it didn't seem effective. The bullet just seemed to bounce off.

  
  


“Did you think your peashooter can affect this cannon? Darling...” Mettaton giggled at this. Madsta distracted him enough for Napstablook to have an opening. He dashed around his cousin and started to launch his music note projectiles at him, which proved somewhat effective. The crazed robot was apparently hurt by this; he looked like he was electrocuted.

  
  


“Agh! Why you-” Mettaton proved to look more annoyed than hurt and then he grabbed one of the guns attached on his heels and then started shooting at Napstablook. He reserved his cannon for Madsta as it was locked on him now.

  
  


“Pinky... snap out of it!” Napstablook cried out as he evaded the shots by dashing even faster around him. “Please! We don't want to hurt you!”

  
  


“Stay still!” Mettaton growled at him.

  
  


That was when Napstablook got a call. He answered it from his internal system. “Hello? Doctor.”

  
  


“Napstablook, what's happening now??” Alphys asked him. “Turn on your display relay so we can see what's going on through your point of view!”

  
  


Napstablook did as he was told; there was an option in his internal systems that let him do as Alphys had instructed him. He finally let them know what his cousin had been doing to them...

  
  


“What th- Mettaton?!” Alphys cried in disbelief.

  
  


“Yes... and he seems fully aware now... he could recognise me, my cousin, and Madsta very well... I don't know why he's doing this to us!!” Napstablook started to cry and he tried to get his tears close to Mettaton to deal some damage, in hopes of somewhat immobilising him.

  
  


“napstablook, listen to me.” said Sans. “you have to try and analyse him so we can make something out of the data you're gathering. clear?”

  
  


“Yes but... how?”

  
  


“just analyse him. we'll take care of the rest. i think we can make something out of it and understand why he's acting like this.” Sans sounded serious.

  
  


“Y-Yes... I'll just... we'll just try to get him to hold still and analyse his condition! We'll try to get a sample of his oil and if possible... we'll bring him back home!” Napstablook said with determination.

  
  


“good luck, kid.” said Sans. “we have faith in you.”

  
  


The transmitter had finally turned off. Napstablook was ready to carry out the plans with his partner. “Madsta! Let's try to immobilise him and analyse his stats! Maybe Doctor and Sans can figure out why he's acting like this! We also have to get Mai out of that thing!”

  
  


“Roger that. Naps, you try to deal with him. If anyone can knock him back to his senses, it's you. I'll try to get him to 'capture' me so I can save Mai from that thing!” Madsta called out and then looked at their opponent. “Let's go, pretty boy.”

  
  


“It would be my pleasure.” Mettaton's last phrases trailed off into a growl as he activated his captor and aimed at the red robot.

  
  


Madsta grit his teeth and then grabbed a whip from his abdomen compartment from the back. He lashed and hit the captor. It seemed to malfunction a little... he lashed again, but this time the whip wrapped itself around Mettaton's ghost-capturing gadgets.

  
  


“What? GRRRR...” Mettaton growled and tried to drag his machine away. “Let GO!”

  
  


Napstablook finally saw the chance to charge at his cousin and hugged him tight. “Pinky... I'm sorry, but this is for your own good.”

He pressed something behind Mettaton's nape and it... rendered him motionless. He fell limp on the floor.

  
  


“... Wait, that was it?” Madsta said, astonished. He walked over and tried to work with the captor to free Mai.

  
  


“Yes...” said Napstablook. He turned his cousin to his side so that he can face him, and so that Madsta can work on those... things attached to Mettaton's back. “He actually requested a pressure point on the back of his nape to be more... 'human', when he takes on battles. My cousin can be so weird... Alphys saw to it that she didn't make the same mistake on me so... she made the button on my neck a power booster. I guess I have to thank Pinky that he asked for this button...”

  
  


“Huh... alright. Well then, let's do this.” said Madsta and then he huffed. He tried to understand what the captor did and how it worked so he can try to free ghosts... actually, Shysta was somewhere in Mettaton's storage so... he tried to work on that too.

  
  


Napstablook knelt in front of his cousin and cried. He gently caressed his face, internally asking himself what happened and what went wrong... he knew he needed answers. He slowly reached out for both of Mettaton's hands and then held them. He closed his eyes... hoping that maybe he could connect with his networks...

  
  


…

  
  


***

  
  


When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar zone... it didn't look like the alleyway that he was in with Madsta earlier.

  
  


No wait.

  
  


It was actually familiar, after he looked around some more. It was the same... cyberspace, that he comes to be conscious in whenever he shares networks with his cousin Mettaton. The data getting processed looked like intangible holograms when in this sharing mode; they could basically access each other's inboxes this way. They would go around accessing their data and information as if they were drifting in cyberspace...

  
  


Pinky's cyberspace paths were definitely all cute, pink, and vibrant, just like he was.  
  
  


  


That was his usual cyberspace environment... all that Napstablook can see now is a cyberspace environment devoid of life and vibrance. Instead of a vibrant and joyous pink cyberspace... he comes across dark paths full of unfinished processes. He couldn't make out the encoded data... they were far too complex for him to understand, but he decided to gather them anyway for reference. Perhaps someone of Dr. Alphys' caliber can make things out better than he could ever hope to.

  
  


He tried to look for Mettaton's consciousness amidst the dead environment...

  
  


“Pinky? Pinky... Pinky!!” he called out, but his voice only echoed through the dead pathways. He looked around and hugged himself... “Pinky... Pinky, please... please tell me you're here... please...”

  
  


…

  
  


He looked around a little more in search of his cousin's consciousness...

  
  


…

  
  


That was when he stumbled across his inbox. They were both in offline mode, and so he can only view stored messages. He started to cry when he browsed through the messages... all of them were full of love; from his fans and admirers, from his friends, from his family...

  
  


He even came across one email thread they used to have... it was from the time Mettaton had to go out of the city to venture in the human world, months before he was able to get his Napstabot body. They talked about how hard it was for monsters and people like him to get recognised in human cities... while some humans saw him as gorgeous, some found him... weird, with him being a robot and all.

  
  


Napstablook cried looking back at these memories...

  
  


… What if he never gets his cousin back again?

  
  


Or what if... what if he does get his robot body back but... but he would never be the same?

  
  


Such thoughts shook his mind... but he had to stay strong like Mettaton always told him to. Especially now that Mettaton is not by his side... who else will stay strong for him but... himself?

  
  


He has to stay strong. For Pinky. For Madsta. For Shysta. For everyone...

  
  


For himself.

  
  


He shook his head and tried to keep in his tears so that he could go over some more emails. Perhaps... perhaps he could find a clue somewhere concerning his cousin's odd behaviour. He looked at some more fan mails. Some of them almost made him cry, some of them almost made him seethe in anger given how creepy some fans can get, or how extremely rude they can be...

  
  


… Until he came across this one email.

  
  


He saw this before. He just couldn't put a finger on it... when he opened it, that was when everything came back...

  
  


He received this email shortly after his first performance with Mettaton in front of a small live audience back in the hotel. It read...

  
  


> _“Dear DJ JAY JAY WAVE, You were great!”_

  
  


… Mettaton's voice echoed in his mind when he read this particular email.

  
  


> “ _Look, darling!” said Mettaton. “Dear DJ JAY JAY WAVE, You were great! Look Blooky, an attachment! Okay... virus-free, yadda yadda... oh. Where is it? Huh, it must have gotten deleted or it must have been corrupted? Anyway...”_

  
  


It suddenly disappeared when Mettaton accessed it. He didn't find it in his own files either. Then it rang in his mind...

  
  


**Corrupted.**

  
  


He saved this email in his own inbox, still taking care that he doesn't get anything from it. Whatever this email was... it could lead them to something. Perhaps Mettaton WAS right about corruption... perhaps there was some sort of corruption going on that they had to investigate.

  
  


…

  
  


***

  
  


When Napstablook opened his eyes once more, he saw Madsta's face close to his. His face looked... extremely distressed. However, upon realising that his eyes were open, the red robot hugged him so tightly.

  
  


He saw that he was back in the alley with Madsta... Mai was just beside him; they looked relieved for some reason. Madsta almost cried on his shoulder while he hugged him...

  
  


“Naps... I thought... I thought something happened!” he cried. “A few minutes after you connected your network with Mettaton here you... you looked like, well... your eyes started to dim down. Your systems looked like they slowed down, I didn't know what to do! I tried to access your network but your hands were attached to Mettaton's, I couldn't really pry you from him right away...”

  
  


“Maddie...” the quiet robot said, and then he hugged him back. “I'm okay... really, I am... I just needed to access his network so I can find some clues while... while he's still here. Maddie, Mai... listen to me. We have to take Pinky back. I gathered some information from him... I think we could finally find out why he's acting like-”

  
  


“W-Where did he go??” Mai exclaimed.

  
  


They all looked at the spot where Mettaton used to lie down on... he was no longer there. No trace of him... none at all; it was as if nothing happened. They looked around for any surprise attacks and turned their sensors up higher...

  
  


… Nothing. They could pick up nothing. Mettaton was nowhere in range.

  
  


“How...” Madsta looked utterly puzzled. He held his cousin's cylindrical glass container close to him and then hid it in his abdomen compartment to keep it safe. “Come on. We have to inform the others about this.”

  
  


The two other Blooks obliged and then they went ahead of the red robot as per the latter's instructions. It was so that should anything happen, Madsta can see what was happening to them and aid them as fast as he could. They got out of the alley safely and were able to make their way back home to Alphys to give her their new information...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things just got worse for the Blooks and the Spooks.
> 
> Before anyone asks, yes. Madsta is THE chocolate robot husband. ♥


	13. More Answers, Even More Questions

###  **Chapter 13: More Answers, Even More Questions**

  
  


“hey, alphys. i brought you something other than spaghetti.”

  
  


Sans came in her room with a tray in his hands; it had a plate of quiche on it with two glasses and a pitcher of water. He laid the tray on her study table after clearing it of some clutter. The doctor was surprisingly conscious at the time... although she didn't seem too lively.

  
  


Her room was full of clutter; it was quite spacious but it gives off the illusion of being smaller than it actually is because of the various mess lying around. There were papers and posters here and there, especially around her study table area. The sheets of paper seem to be full of robotic drafts for the ghosts... she seemed to be really passionate about focusing on them for her project for the time being.

  
  


“how are you feeling?” Sans asked, worry evident in his tone.

  
  


“I'm fine... thanks for asking, Sans. You didn't have to go through the trouble of making that quiche...” Alphys said weakly as she lurched over to sit up on her bed.

  
  


“i didn't, but i wanted to.” Sans smiled at her warmly and then gave her a slice of the quiche and poured her a glass of water. “go on. you need your nutrients to keep on going.”

  
  


“Thanks, Sans...” Alphys smiled and then started to eat. “Mmm... you're getting better at making them!”

  
  


“heh, thanks.”

  
  


The both of them stayed quiet for a while. The silence was almost awkward... until Sans decided to break it.

  
  


“you know, alph... you were right all along.” he said.

  
  


“H-Huh??”

  
  


“i mean...” Sans looked a little awkward as he scratched the back of his neck. “that i... shouldn't have given up that easily. you know... when pap and i started to live on our own.”

  
  


“Sans...” Alphys smiled at him. She laid down her plate on a nearby table drawer and then patted his shoulder. “He would be so proud of you right now. I mean... look at that fine worksmanship you did on Madsta! He really loves his body!”

  
  


“yeah i know... but still, that was your doing. i only helped around.” Sans shrugged.

  
  


“No...” Alphys shook her head. “We did that together. And I am so proud of what we have done.”

  
  


“...” Sans smiled at her. “yeah, i guess. you know, i kinda miss those good ol days.”

  
  


Alphys giggled a little at this and then took a sip from her glass of water. “W-What's with the sudden nostalgia trip?”

  
  


“i dunno. guess i'm just kinda bummed out i wanna think about something else.” Sans sighed heavily. “so many things have been happening a lot lately. i kinda miss the good ol days when we did nothing around the lab but run around and play hide n seek.”

  
  


“Yeah...” Alphys sighed almost a little dreamily at the nostalgia. “The way we'd hide behind mom's desk, or behind your dad's experiments... we blew up a few of his potions back there huh? I remember him scolding you and I'd feel bad...”

  
  


“hey, that wasn't your fault. i knew they'd blow up but i asked for your help to do it anyway.” Sans winked at her as he laughed a little. “he didn't get me a spider doughnut on the way home but it was all worth it seeing fireworks in the lab.”

  
  


“Yeah...”

  
  


They stayed quiet again and then for some reason, Sans started to look a little sad. Almost... regretful and too painfully sad. As if he could cry at any given time...

  
  


Alphys saw this and then she laid a hand on his shoulder.

  
  


“Sans... it wasn't your fault.”

  
  


“i know... but i can't stop blaming myself for it...” Sans looked so sad. Unusually sad. “now i only have papyrus...”

  
  


“... Have you told him about it?”

  
  


“... i... i couldn't tell him the whole story.”

  
  


“Sans... someday he HAS to know the full truth.”

  
  


“i know... but i can't... i need to make sure he stays happy. if he finds out what really happened, he...”

  
  


“Sans...”

  
  


Sans looked so conflicted. He just drank from his glass of water to try and calm down, while his lab partner looked at him full of concern in her eyes.

  
  


“okay... i'm better now. i'll talk to him about it next time. losing mettaton like this is already enough...” Sans rubbed his forehead with his fingers, feeling stressed. “but you're right. i can't keep lying to pap like this.”

  
  


“Hey...” Alphys grinned at him as she put both hands on his shoulders. “... I'm always right.”

  
  


Sans just grinned at this with a somewhat sarcastic expression upon his face. He just sighed and then started eating his own slice of quiche. “thanks, alph.”

  
  


They ate their slices together as they tried to have a friendlier and heartier conversation. It wasn't long before they heard someone come in the front door of the lab and Sans had to check it out so he excused himself. He went out of the reptile's room and saw that the others had returned... along with a ghost. Seeing a survivor from the mass abductions such as the said ghost brought relief to him.

  
  


It seems that Papyrus and Undyne had met them first and they began to usher them inside upon a few exchange of dialogues.

  
  


“I can't believe you found a survivor!” Undyne said as she helped them to the table. “And you say that you got some info??”

  
  


“Y-Yes...” said Napstablook as he was ushered on one of Alphys' lab tables. The other robot was ushered to a different table just beside his.

  
  


“They're not from my clan, but I'm relieved that we managed to save them.” said Madsta from the other table as Mai floated about.

  
  


“Yeah, I remember them!” said Undyne and then she looked at the ghost floating around the place. “You're a Blook, aren't you?”

  
  


“OH MY GOSH! UNDYNE!” said Mai as they floated towards her. “I KNEW YOU LOOKED FAMILIAR!! How have you been?”

  
  


“Just fine! Here I am, working as part-time lab assistant and full-time cop. Although... I'm not on duty right now and there's hardly any action around the city anyways. Besides this. So I'm helping around the lab when I'm on duty to help find this CRIMINAL doing this to you guys!” she growled.

  
  


“Man... thanks, Undyne! You're really cool!” Mai clapped their little ghostly nubs.

  
  


“SO, WHAT'S THIS INFORMATION YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT, DJ??” Papyrus looked curious as he took Napstablook's hands in his own. Madsta seemed to lightly growl at this.

  
  


“Umm...” Napstablook looked a little flustered; he didn't know what to say for a while. “Uh... well, I gathered some information from... from Pinky. We met up with him earlier and-”

  
  


“tell me everything.” said Sans in a serious tone as he gently nudged Papyrus away so he can face the blue robot. He asked Napstablook the details of what had happened to him and Madsta, as well as how they were able to rescue Mai, down to what kind of information Napstablook had gotten.

  
  


Firstly, Madsta took out the cylindrical glass tank he had gotten from Mettaton earlier. He presumed it to contain his cousin's SOUL and then he handed it over to the short skeleton.

  
  


“Uh... so how's Dr. A?” Madsta asked when he gave the glass tank to Sans and the latter began to study it. “Is she doing okay?”

  
  


“yeah she's ok. she's eating some quiches in her room right now...” Sans seemed a little distracted with the glass tank and then he went over to the main panel of the laboratory where the gigantic monitor wired to. He looked at a circular panel... and then he hesitantly put the glass tank on it.

  
  


It fit and accepted the glass tank; it just sat there and it began to process itself. Sans looked troubled. Relieved they're making progress, but troubled.

  
  


“i'll get your cousin out of here. this glass tank is programmed to hold SOULs and i'm afraid we won't get them out of there easily. if we break it, we'll probably break them too. they're in a state of being 'corporeal' when they really has no control and is probably asleep in here.” Sans said as he studied the glass container and then began working on the panel.

  
  


“Hey Sans, since you're here... I'll be making some rounds around the city and let you know if I find anything strange okay?” Undyne nodded and then she went to her room to get dressed. She came out later in her police uniform; it fit her perfectly and she definitely looked like a figure of authority. Still different from being a knight, but she still looked like the type you wouldn't want to get in a mess with...

  
  


“WOW UNDYNE! Digging your new outfit!” Mai winked at her and looked so bedazzled by the uniform. “Maybe someday I can get a body good enough to live in! Maybe a nice cozy mannequin... and I could get PAID for wearing clothes! OH MY GOSH!”

  
  


“Is... your cousin really like this?” Madsta asked as he heard them squeal over the uniform.

  
  


“Yes...... ehehe...” Napstablook blushed a little in embarrassment.

  
  


Undyne finally excused herself and then went out of the lab. She went on her own car and started speeding around the city for patrol.

  
  


“I KNOW RIGHT?? UNDYNE'S UNIFORM IS SO COOL!! I HONESTLY WANTED TO BE PART OF HER FORCE BUT... I THINK I'M HAPPIER BEING METTATON'S P.A.!” Papyrus smiled and then... he looked sad. “I JUST HOPE HE'S ALRIGHT... HEY, DJ!”

  
  


“... Who, me?” Napstablook looked a little surprised as he pointed to himself.

  
  


“SINCE METTATON'S NOT AROUND...” Papyrus hugged Napstablook tightly. “I'M GOING TO MAKE A PROMISE I'M NOT LETTING ANYTHING HURT YOU. IT'S THE LEAST I CAN DO FOR HIM. SO YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, OKAY?”

  
  


“Papyrus...” Napstablook looked like he was tearing up... he hugged the sweet skeleton back as well. “Thank you, Papyrus...”

  
  


Papyrus parted and then posed dramatically like a hero. “FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, I AM YOUR SELF-PROCLAIMED BODYGUARD! NYEHEEEEHEEHEEEH!”

  
  


Madsta just smirked a little... oh, Papyrus. He always makes things brighter. It's no wonder Sans spoils his... “little” brother so much. Speaking of Sans... he was still busy working on the glass tank, but he looked like he was making some progress.

  
  


Not too long after, the panel of which Sans worked let out a jingle or a beep that signified a task completion. The glass container was finally unlocked...

  
  


Everyone kept quiet.

  
  


Napstablook can't stop staring at Sans, and so did Mai, Papyrus, and especially Madsta. The fiery ghost-robot couldn't stop staring at the tank that contained his cousin...

  
  


Was this it? Will he finally meet his kidnapped cousin?

  
  


He gulped and waited for Sans to walk over to them to show them the glass container. They all looked apprehensive; especially the Spook. Sans finally opened the lid and then something like a mint-coloured, gaseous substance had been emitted... not long after, it started to gain a more definite form; a ghost-shaped form.

  
  


Not long after... something else formed on the gaseous matter. Tiny horizontal slits... they were eyes. Eyes started to form... and they slowly opened to look at their surroundings.

  
  


The “newly-formed” ghost looked around quietly and started to eye their immediate environment. Two robots were looking at them, a fellow ghost, and two skeletons. They tried to make out what kind of situation they were in... then they felt drawn to the red robot.

  
  


“...” they stared at the red robot and then slowly drifted to them. “... Madsta?”

  
  


“S-Shysta...? SHYSTA?! SHYSTA!!” Madsta almost cried in utter joy to see his cousin again, then he wrapped his arms around his cousin... or so he thought.

  
  


He was corporeal. Shysta was not. They could not hug each other...

  
  


... but he did not care. He couldn't stop crying... bawling even, as he saw his cousin alive and well... ghosts couldn't die but... he never thought that they would see each other again, let alone let his cousin recognise him! He was expecting something like Pinky's reactions; violent, harsh, and bloodthirsty. But no... his cousin was perfectly themself. He still had someone from his family survive from the whole ordeal. And here he thought he was the last surviving Spook...

  
  


“Shysta... I-I thought I lost you for good.” Madsta cried in his hands as he looked up at his cousin floating around.

  
  


Shysta didn't look like he was crying; but he did look delighted. He didn't seem to have much of a reaction while he looked at everyone else. “I thought I was a goner too.”

  
  


“Shysta... is anything the matter?”

  
  


Madsta's happy tears started to fade away as his joy was soon replaced with worry. What had those kidnappers done with Shysta?? They were no robot for them to be reprogrammed, as what their prime presumption to what happened to Mettaton was. They looked... more reclusive than usual. Perhaps it was trauma?

  
  


“Madsta, I've seen what they can do.” said Shysta. “Honestly... all those days we were all kidnapped...”

  
  


Shysta began to recount what had happened...

  
  


***

  
  


It began with the time that they were kidnapped from the hotel that fateful night. They got far enough from Madsta when they got frightened by the slushing sound and the trail of the mysterious black fluid. They were freaked out as is with what was happening and they honestly didn't care if they were alone. They just wanted to get away as soon as possible...

  
  


That was when they saw something black flash in front of them, then all went dark...

  
  


The next thing they knew, they were inside some sort of a huge tank. It was strange, they thought. They saw their other family members floating around in it. The tank itself looked like it was made of pure glass; so they can actually see right through it... if it wasn't dark out. It seemed to be connected to some sort of a contraption, as its ends looked like it had chutes...

  
  


“What's going on? Where are we?” asked Shysta as they floated around and asked one of their family members.

  
  


“I don't know! We woke up and suddenly we're here...” said the one they asked.

  
  


They were evidently getting scared, being a tender little ghost they are. They pushed their ghost nubs against the tank. They're ghosts. They should be able to phase through it... right?

  
  


... Wrong. They couldn't pass through it. It felt as though something was barring them from ever coming out; incorporeal as they were. They tried to look for another way out... maybe the chutes were a good start to try escaping from.

  
  


“... Nope.” Shysta told themself as they tried to phase through the chute. It was no use... it was just as effective as trying to phase through the glass...

  
  


What was going on?! Where were they, why were they crammed in a glass tank, and why couldn't they get out?!

  
  


“Doesn't anybody remember what happened?” Shysta asked around. “Anybody? There must be someone who knew how we got here-”

  
  


Suddenly, the lights went on.

  
  


They finally saw where they were... it looked like a lab of some sort. As Shysta described it, it looked twice the size of Dr. Alphys' lab... they were all so scared and so they all huddled up to each other. Shysta could remember that there were shelves upon shelves of tinier glass tanks aligned properly on one side of the lab, then the other had some contraptions; they had no idea what these were for, but seeing that they could be the subject of whoever kidnapped them terrified them to no end.

  
  


The lab actually looked quite orderly and almost was nice to look at, if they weren't in such a compromising state. The door to the lab opened and they all huddled to each other even more... someone casually stepped in the lab.

  
  


... The clacks of their heels echoed throughout the spacious laboratory.

  
  


... It was Mettaton. Shysta recognised him from anywhere... it was indeed the robot from earlier who took them in to help find a nice home for them. Was he taken in too? But no... he walked in so casually... although, his face looked serious and almost lifeless than when he last saw him...

  
  


And there was oil leaking from all over his joints and vents. He didn't quite look like himself, although he was able to walk around normally. However...

  
  


The way he walked... the way the oil dripped from him and left a trail on the lab floor... it reminded Shysta of the sounds and the trail of black substance they had seen from outside of their hotel room the night before; or whatever time had passed since they were knocked out of consciousness. That was when Mettaton stared up at them and his eye from under his wavy lock which leaked oil more than the other. It emitted some sort of light beams that passed through the ghosts up and down, though they didn't seem hurt.

  
  


“Ghosts captured: 20%. Population remaining: 80%. Must capture everything else.” said Mettaton in monotone. He definitely sounded different from when they last saw him...

  
  


Shysta looked around... it seems like the other ghosts had recognised him as well and they all looked at him in horror and disbelief.

  
  


“Is this what being corporeal has done to you, Blook?!” cried out one of the braver ghosts, although he was cowering.

  
  


Mettaton lifted his head to stare at him. He looked... scary; frightening, even. His eyes pierced the poor little ghost's SOUL that they and the other ghosts began to cry even more than they must. He was about to lift his hand on a nearby lever when he was stopped... someone put their hand on Mettaton's to stop him.

  
  


“Mettaton... I don't think you should do anything just yet. Have you gathered all the ghosts?” said the individual. From what Shysta remembered, it sounded like a man. He wasn't able to make out the face...

  
  


“Not yet.”

  
  


“Come now, I think you need further reprogramming.” said the man as he put a hand on the robot's shoulder.

  
  


“METTATON!” cried Shysta. They knew it could get him further hurt... or “killed”, if these people had somehow found a way to do that. “I know you're still in there! It's me, Shysta! METTATON, PLEASE LISTEN!”

  
  


“...” Mettaton just turned his head to him. His eyes seemed to glitch out a little... “S-Shysta? Why-”

  
  


The man just pressed a button on Mettaton's neck hard enough that he shut down and limped down on the ground. He stepped closer slowly... the ghosts cowered as he slowly approached them and his footsteps echoed. Shysta was scared to death, but they brought this upon themself. While all the other ghosts cowered behind them, they stood their ground in the tank and looked at the man.

  
  


“That was amazing.” said the man and then he laid a hand on the glass. “You managed to snap him out of the programming I gave him. I'll have to program him again before he goes out... though it may or may not permanently affect him internally. Well... who cares, right? It's not as if he's ever getting out of here as the same Mettaton everyone knows.”

  
  


“You'll never get away with this.” said Shysta with a glare in their eyes.

  
  


“I am not. But you will. Come, little ghost.” said the man as he opened a chute and seemed to suck them in with a contraption; it looked like a huge vacuum that contained them in a smaller glass, just big enough to hold the ghost in.

  
  


Shysta was terrified; they tried to phase through the glass but they couldn't...

  
  


“Come now, I need you to see Mettaton.” the man said and then he carried the glass container onto a conveyor belt that seemed to run through different parts of the lab they were forced to stay in. The man took Mettaton and stepped on the conveyor belt Shysta was also on; this carried them outside. “Why are you so heavy...”

  
  


They came out of the laboratory room they had come from; only to find out the laboratory itself was bigger. They came across a wide hallway with different glass tubes here and there. They were similar to the containers that the ghosts were held in. Shysta remained quiet...

  
  


The conveyor belt eventually took them to a different room; it looked much... darker. The man looked back at Shysta...

  
  


***

  
  


“Then what happened??” Madsta asked.

  
  


Everyone looked at the poor ghost apprehensively. They seemed so... scared; horrified even, but they tried to shake it off. They looked up at their cousin...

  
  


“I am so mad I can't hug you right now...” said Shysta with tears in their eyes. Mai floated over to hug them in Madsta's stead.

  
  


Sans seemed to listen intently to the ghost; they were finally getting a lead as to who may have done all this. All he needed to know was a few more details... he helped calm the ghost down and even offered them a glass of ghost water. Weird as it may seem, it was actually a product made by Mettaton with the help of Alphys so that ghosts everywhere may have a drink akin to corporeal folk.

  
  


“shysta. it's fine... you're safe now, and we're all here to protect each other.” Sans nodded and then he turned to Madsta. “isn't that right?”

  
  


“Y-Yeah... yeah, cuz. We're here to protect you from everything. That's why I got this body!” said Madsta. “M-Maybe... maybe we could make you one too! During my spare time, I had been reading on robots so I could at least-”

  
  


“madsta, it takes years to be able to apply what you've learned in robotics. i should know.” said Sans. “... but if you want, you can help us. no big deal, i guess. actually... shysta, mads, come with me. the others stay here with pap for some good time. pap, give them a good time.”

  
  


“SURE THING!” Papyrus just gave him a salute and then his brother left with the two Spook cousins.

  
  


Sans and the ghosts made their way to Alphys' lab; it was messy, given they were so busy the past couple of days. There were papers and scraps of metal everywhere; blueprints were a lot like wallpapers given they were all over the walls along with what seemed to be notes to go along with them.

  
  


“can you tell me what really happened, shysta? who was this man and what has he done to you?” Sans asked as he tried to arrange some of the files just lying down on his working table.

  
  


“Sans, why'd you bring us here?” Madsta crossed his arms and looked curious. “Anything you wanna show us?”

  
  


“actually, yes. i helped make your body didn't i, mads?” Sans said as he looked at him from head to toe. “i wanted to show you some blueprints. you see, while alph was down... i made a few blueprints of another robot. i needed to get the hang of this more, you know.”

  
  


“Wait... why?? Did you see this coming?” asked Madsta with a surprised look.

  
  


“i had a feeling.” Sans shrugged. “my gut feeling is strong. especially when you grow up to be independent, yknow?”

  
  


“A robot body... like my cousin's? I'd like to have that... I can't hug my cousin like this.” Shysta said. “But yes... let me tell you what I remember.”  
  


 

 

Madsta walked over to Sans and looked at the blueprints; he looked evidently amazed. He picked up the papers and raised them high up in the air as if to take a better look at it. He cocked his head to the left and to the right, as he tried to understand how the mechanisms to be involved were supposed to work. Sans seemed to like this naivete side of Madsta as he just grinned watching him marvel at his blueprints.

  
  


“Basically I wasn't conscious a whole lot when they took me to that dark room. I saw the man lay Mettaton down on the table and he seemed to fiddle with him and his programming... at least that's what I think. He connected Mettaton with a cable from his nape to a computer...” Shysta continued. They sighed... they seemed calmer, but they still looked scared as they recalled what happened to them. “So he approached me...”

  
  


Sans seemed to be listening still, but he was too entertained by Madsta. He seemed to take a slight liking to him lately; especially when he took a great part working on his body... he somehow felt like a dad to him and he just stood up on his table to try and reach for Madsta's head to pat him. Madsta lowered his head and allowed Sans to pet his head as he still looked down at the blueprints.

  
  


“We're listening, cuz! I just... just look at these blueprints... when we're done with your body, you'd look AMAZING! Look at this long hair... how...” Madsta looked amazed.

  
  


“alph likes pretty boys. i figured i'd take after her designs and surprise her when she gets better.” Sans grinned at this. He looked at Shysta. “continue your story, my good fella.”

  
  


“...” Shysta seemed a little shaken at this, but they continued. “He.. told me what a brave 'fella' I was and then attached my container to something... that's when everything went black and I thought I was getting erased from existence. Next thing I knew, I was here.”

  
  


“so it looked like you were put to a sleeping state.” Sans concluded from his story.

  
  


“Yes... I still am confused with why they want ghosts. Everyone was there... everyone from my clan. I'm not sure about the Blooks... probably not. They live in better places, they might have moved away as soon as they heard about our clan getting wiped out like that.” Shysta tried to think about it. “At least they're safe... whatever they wanted to do with us, it didn't seem at all... good. It feels more sinister than I imagine it to be...”

  
  


“Our cousins...” Madsta looked angry. “Don't worry, Shysta. We'll save them... and Mettaton, too!”

  
  


“If we can get Mettaton back on our side, I bet things would flow more smoothly from then on. They look like they're using him as a weapon.” Shysta nodded. “A weapon as a means to get us, and to do what they like. I'm not sure if this man is alone...”

  
  


“shysta, i'm sorry i made you recall all that. but we have to if we want to get somewhere...” said Sans. He looked a little more serious now as he offered them more ghost water and gave Madsta his coolants.

  
  


Apparently, Alphys had designed flavoured coolants for the robots at the request of Mettaton; both of them had worked together to make them. Since each of them had their own favourite flavours, she decided to make coolants of those so that their drinks didn't taste bitter for them. That and the said coolants give them sweet, distinct scents... Mettaton liked strawberry, Napstablook liked vanilla, and Madsta liked chocolate.

  
  


“The man... he looked...” Shysta started to talk after drinking their water. “Tall... black suit... and his hands... t-they had... they had holes...?”

  
  


Sans seemed to stare at Shysta as his eyes started to dim down. Shysta was supposed to feel scared.. but after all that had happened to them, they felt as if they're no longer afraid of anything and that their fears have been strained out. The skeleton took the blueprints from Madsta and began to scan over it.

  
  


“Sans...?” Madsta looked a little worried.

  
  


“we must start working on this now. madsta, now's the time to show me your robotics smarts.” said Sans as if to dismiss whatever he had to say.

  
  


“... Do you know him, Sans?” asked Shysta. They didn't seem to like beating around the bush.

  
  


“...” Sans didn't reply. He just started to gather the materials needed to start working on the robot from scratch... he looked determined to work on it but... something about his aura felt wrong. It was as if he found out something crucial... “Shysta. Do you remember anything about where you were held captive? Where were you? Do you think... you can pinpoint it in a map?”

  
  


“... Actually...” Shysta tried to think about it. “I'll try. I was half conscious when they kidnapped us... I may have gotten a few glimpses of when Mettaton took us.”

  
  


“Thank you. Please do your best... we'll need your help.” said Sans.

  
  


He began to work with some of his materials; he started with the wiring and the internal components before he worked on the external features. This was going to take him a while, even with the current determination he has... he instructed Madsta what he must do to help him with his work. Shysta just floated around and watched them work as they have no prior knowledge about robotics... after all, they were just a dummy before they all had the idea of robot bodies.

  
  


Sans seemed to be more serious and demanding than his usual, chill personality. It was strange to see him in such a state, but Madsta obliged anyway. He understood since this was no time to laze around... finding Shysta was only the beginning of their mission. They still had to save Mettaton and a whole clan of ghosts. After all, just because ghosts can't be “killed” doesn't mean it's not possible to wipe their SOULs out of existence with something.

  
  


Madsta proved that they can still get hurt with magical attacks... and Shysta proved that his SOUL was somehow put to sleep; it was horrible enough that it convinced them that they were erased from existence.

  
  


Instead of just floating around, Shysta excused themself outside of the lab to tell the others what had been going on. They seemed to start a brainstorming session about their next courses of action, led by Papyrus with Napstablook's help (since he DID go on the missions).

  
  


Sans decided he had to work on this robotic body of Shysta's and finish it as much as possible, no matter how many cups of coffee and ketchup he needed to take. He planned ahead... Madsta did want to help him as much as he could, and so in case he was running low on power, Sans gave him a set of headphones that acted as a power bank. That way, he was recharging while working... it's bad for his battery, but he had to take a few sacrifices to get something good done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who could Shysta have seen? Who could have done this to Mettaton and the Spook clan? Stay tuned to find out!  
> Personally, I loved writing that first bit with Alphys and Sans. ♥
> 
> (31/12/16) By the way, thanks for the kudos and for staying tuned!  
> I'm new to this site; it feels like a warm welcome and I feel more determined to work on this.


	14. Spook Recovery

###  **Chapter 14: Spook Recovery**

  
  


They were finally done brainstorming for the day. Papyrus was off to cook some meals for them before Undyne had to go home for the day from her patrol, so he went ahead to the kitchen while the others were left in the room before the actual working area of the lab which served as their conference room.

  
  


“So, Nappy... what do you think should we do now?” said Mai as they looked up at their now robot cousin.

  
  


“Well... I-I guess we should just rest for the time-being until Sans is done. Or if he needs any help then we should be there for him...” said Napstablook, a little unsure. Sans was busy working, and Alphys got too exhausted that she needed to rest from collapsing earlier.

  
  


“I think we could both help him.” Shysta suggested. “Then they could just help around with Papyrus and watch over your friend while she rests.”

  
  


“Ah... you mean Mai?” Napstablook asked just to be sure.

  
  


“Yeah, that sounds good.” Mai smiled. They didn't seem to be shy... on the contrary, they seem very sociable so helping Papyrus around the place and helping watch over Alphys may just be their thing. They finally left and followed the skeleton cook into the kitchen to assist him.

  
  


“So, Napstablook... how has my cousin been while I was gone?” Shysta asked him as soon as they were alone.

  
  


“Huh? Oh..... he's fine, I guess.” the blue robot scratched the back of his head a little.

  
  


“He seems to be a little... calmer. And happier. Did you do anything to him?” Shysta raised a brow at him and then started to float around, as if to study him.

  
  


“Umm... n-not that I know of. Lately, we've just been good friends...”

  
  


“... Friends?”

  
  


“Y-Yes..... what of it?”

  
  


“...” Shysta stopped flying around him and just hovered in front of his face. “My cousin has no friends. That's new...”

  
  


“...” Napstablook felt a little awkward, as he didn't know how to react to this. He really had no friends before? Huh... but he seemed so nice, thought the little blue robot. “He's actually pretty nice...”

  
  


“I see.” Shysta nodded. “That must be it. He must be too happy to finally have a friend.”

  
  


The silence grew almost too awkward between them... the blue robot didn't know what to think and the mint ghost just stayed even quieter than usual. Napstablook fidgeted in his seat and looked around with his wandering eyes to help ease his awkwardness, but it didn't help much.

  
  


“You know... you Blooks aren't as bad as we thought you were.” Shysta finally broke the silence. Napstablook finally stopped fidgeting for the most part and started to listen to him. “You're actually nicer than I expected you to be, especially after befriending my cousin like that. Thank you.”

  
  


“Oh......” the robot only blushed at this and then nodded at him. “Y-You're welcome...”

  
  


“My cousin's been through so much... even as a ghost. I'm glad he's beginning to see that there are people like you who actually care, Napsta.” Shysta nodded at him.

  
  


Napstablook felt so very flattered about this. Madsta... did look like the type to have acted roughly because of something... and he definitely looked like the type who used this rough side as a strong front or a defence mechanism. He did feel curious as to what Madsta had been like then, though. He looked like he wanted to learn a little more about his new friend... there was something that made him curious about him.

  
  


“You're thinking about him right now, aren't you?” Shysta said as they looked back at him. “And I bet you have many questions as we speak.”

  
  


“Wh-” Napstablook looked a little surprised as he snapped out of his train of thought. He nodded. “Y-Yes... yes, I do...”

  
  


“Ask away.”

  
  


“Ummm... h-how do I put this... S-Shysta, uh... Madsta told me about your lifestyle before and uh... m-may I ask just how your clan lived? I mean uh... he told me he felt bad about people not seeming to care about your clan getting wiped out and the media covered everything about my cousin...” Napstablook looked so awkward, as he was afraid to offend the ghost... but he didn't know how else to say it.

  
  


“Right; even if we did hold those clan meetings, you didn't exactly know just what our lives are like in the dump.” Shysta nodded. They looked like they spaced out a little and thought about it. “Well... what can I say? We live in a dump and act like it.”

  
  


The ghost huffed a little before continuing; they tried to think of how to tell Napstablook all about their lifestyle since... they just lived it, they weren't really used to talking about themself in detail. In fact, they weren't really used to talking on its own.

  
  


“Hmm... let's see; we live in cardboard boxes but I think you already know that. We make our own clothesline around our territory which serves both as a our personal clothesline and a security measure so we'd know when intruders strike when they move. And compared to you Blooks, we're more used to... street fighting? Uhh... I guess that's basically it. I dunno, I'll tell you more when I remember.” said Shysta. “Madsta isn't any different but believe me, if it's one thing we agreed on, it's that we're both socially withdrawn.”

  
  


Napstablook looked a little confused; he half-expected that Madsta was socially withdrawn in the past, but he also couldn't believe it, given he was able to command dummies under his control with just his voice. How was he able to do that?

  
  


“I know what you're thinking. You're wondering how Madsta was able to lead our cousins in fight.” said Shysta, to Napstablook's surprise. “I'm gonna be honest... they did it out of fear and cluelessness, I guess. Madsta was among the first ghosts in our clan to find a body that really lasted long... why do you think he has so many scars on his body compared to anyone else's? I got my body long after he got his. I was too lazy to find one, honestly.”

  
  


“Wow... so that's why they listen to him?”

  
  


“Pretty much. But nobody really likes him but me. We're all cousins in a single tribe, but sometimes I can hear others talk behind his back when they don't realise that I'm around.” Shysta shrugged. “But I'm glad at least someone else besides me saw the good in him.”

  
  


“He's a really sweet person.....” Napstablook nodded at this; hardly believing that Madsta was that reclusive despite his boisterous demeanor. His mind began to wander off again... til he remembered what he was supposed to ask Shysta from earlier. “Shysta...... ghosts are incorporeal, right? ...... How did Maddie ever get that scar...?”

  
  


“...” Shysta just stared at him for a little while. “So you've noticed. I'm not sure either, but what I DID notice is that ever since he had that scar, he's become more of a scatterbrain. He tends to forget things and he began to forget my name, even.”

  
  


The blue robot remembered that... when he talked to Frisk as a ghost back then, Frisk had told him about the Mad Dummy who they had stumbled upon. The dummy kept on spewing out words with anger and they frequently forgot why they were mad in the first place... and they even forgot the name of their own cousin who resided in the ruins! At first, Napstablook found it weird and he just shrugged it off... Mad Dummy was probably just selfish and immature. But now that he had talked to Shysta, it was beginning to make sense.

  
  


He didn't choose to forget those things; something must have happened to him for him to forget important things in his life like that. And it had something to do with his scar.

  
  


As his friend, he was starting to feel worried for Madsta... there was more to be known about this new friend of his than he thought.

  
  


“I wonder what my new body will be like? You know... Sans looked really determined to finish my body on time. And my cousin looked very determined to help him too... nice. I'm glad that even without me, he was able to find other people to be with. I'm not sure if I can do that.” Shysta shrugged at this.

  
  


“I'm sure you can do it...” Napstablook nodded at them with a smile. “M-Maybe if we get Pinky back, we can have a more proper introduction with everyone! I'm sure Pinky would like to meet you in a better situation...”

  
  


“Yeah, I'd like to meet him. I never really knew who Mettaton was til you drove through our home... and I'm not even being sarcastic here.” Shysta said without a trace of sarcasm. “... I wonder how he's doing.”

  
  


The blue robot was a little surprised by the sudden concern of the strange, quiet ghost, but appreciated it nonetheless. He smiled slightly at him and then sighed a little. “I... I hope he's doing okay.”

  
  


“...”

  
  


“... Um, so... so I think you'll be staying with us in our room! Mai could be staying with Doctor so that someone can watch over her til she gets better. As for you, well... I think til we finish your body or til the Doctor feels better, we have to stay on hold and just maintain the safety of any other monster or fellow ghost who are still up and standing.”

  
  


“Where does the rest of the Blook clan stay, if you don't mind me asking?”

  
  


“Oh.... um actually, they all reside in the MTT Hotel. There's one floor dedicated to the Blook family; but they all have their own jobs. Some work in the hotel and some work somewhere else.” Napstablook nodded. “I don't think anyone else wanted to be a star alongside Pinky but me...”

  
  


“Did you want to be a star?”

  
  


“... Well, I wanted to be with Pinky.”

  
  


“Huh... alright. You know, your cousin sounds like a rather interesting individual.”

  
  


“Um... thank you...”

  
  


Napstablook sounded a little awkward as he didn't know what else to say. He just looked around and tried to think of other ways to entertain the guest besides leading them to their bedroom later on. The days passed; Undyne was doing more rounds around the city to conduct her own investigations, Alphys started to feel much better, and... Sans had actually finished a robot body with Madsta's help.

  
  


“... In four days?!” Alphys exclaimed.

  
  


She was in the laboratory workshop proper with Sans and Madsta. Madsta was curled up in one corner on the glossy floors as he was plugged up and charging his battery. He seemed exhausted by the looks of it, and Sans looked... horribly haggard. He looked like he hadn't slept for four days, and he looked like he wanted to collapse anytime soon.

  
  


Before them was another robot body with rather elegant external features standing in an open tube just like Madsta's body when it was still dormant. The robot looked tall, slender, and had a similar structure to Madsta's body. Its hair was wintery white that flowed down to its hips, and their face looked rather beautiful; perhaps it was enough to rival Mettaton's face to an extent.

  
  


“i figured i'd make him extra pretty...” Sans said a little weakly and then he yawned.

  
  


“Why...?”

  
  


“don't you like pretty boys?”

  
  


“... Sans...” Alphys looked touched and then she walked over to him and hugged him tightly. “Sans, you didn't need to overwork yourself like this...”

  
  


“i had to. for you and for everyone. for him...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Sans fell quiet. He seemed to slump onto Alphys' arms and then he started to snore. He was very exhausted... he didn't look sick, but he did look like he needed to sleep a whole two days or so. Same with Madsta, but thankfully his robot body allowed him to be more efficient than more organic monsters like Sans.

  
  


That was when Napstablook came in the workshop room with Shysta. At the sight of everything, Napstablook's initial reaction was worry, although he seemed fascinated with the new robot body before them.

  
  


“Doctor! I-Is Sans okay? How is he and Maddie? Oh no......”

  
  


“They're fine, Napsta. They just need to rest up... I'll take it from here. How is Shysta?” Alphys rested Sans on a nearby table so he can lie down better than on a chair.

  
  


“I'm fine. So this is going to be my body?” Shysta said as they floated around the robot body.

  
  


“Yeah, I gu-”

  
  


“I never asked for a robot body.”

  
  


Everything suddenly became awkward. Shysta looked like they weren't trying to kid around... then again, it was Shysta. It was awfully hard to tell what they were trying to say given their monotonous actions and tone of speaking... neither Alphys nor Napstablook looked like they knew how to react to this. They just remained quiet as they looked at the strange green ghost.

  
  


“You... idiot. IDIOT!” Madsta rose from his corner, half sprawled on the ground. He sounded quite delirious. “Sans and I worked day and night on that thing so you'd BETTER GET THE FUCK IN AND USE IT.”

  
  


“And if I don't?”

  
  


“I'LL KILL YOU.”

  
  


“Yeah, good luck with that.”

  
  


Shysta looked like he had fun messing around with his cousin. Madsta didn't look like he took it nicely, though.

  
  


“JUST USE IT ALREADY GOSH DON'T YOU CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO MONSTER CITY?!”

  
  


“Sorry, little cuz. I'm not using it.”

  
  


“WHY I OUGHTA-”

  
  


Madsta finally stood from his ground and then ran after the ghost... only to find that his charger got rashly unplugged from him and then he started to shut down again in a few minutes due to low batter power. Alphys sighed at this and then plugged him back in and made sure he didn't pull that stunt off again. Napstablook just sighed at this and looked up at Shysta rather disappointingly.

  
  


“So that's it? You're not using what Sans and Maddie had made for you in those wasted days?”

  
  


“Nah, I'm using it. It's not as if I have any other choice.” Shysta shrugged. “Besides, we can't save Mettaton or my family like this.”

  
  


“...” Napstablook just nodded at this. “That's true. We have to do everything in our power to get them back.”

  
  


Shysta stared at Napstablook, and then stared back at Madsta and Alphys. It was quiet until the doctor decided that it was time to instruct the ghost how to fuse into his heart core to make the robot body fully functional. They nodded and then closed their eyes to concentrate, then flew head-first into the dormant heart core. Not too long after... the dim heart core started to glow weakly until it started to light up normally just like Madsta and Napstablook's. He finally opened his eyes...

 

  


His eyes had a different hue from each other. One of them was white and plain like Napstablook's eyes, the other was green like his armour. Since Sans was asleep, they weren't sure if this was purely for aesthetic purposes or if it had an alternate use. Shysta started to examine himself; he looked at his reflection on the glass tube he came from, and he looked at his hands. He didn't seem to walk from his spot as he felt that he'd tumble down... and that's when Napstablook and Alphys helped him.

  
  


Madsta couldn't react just yet from where he laid down as his batteries were totally dead... but when he did wake up, he started freaking out.

  
  


“CUZ!!” Madsta hugged his cousin tightly and even lifted him off the ground, being taller and bulkier than him. “I CAN FINALLY HUG YOU!!”

  
  


“Heh...” Shysta groaned a little in his tight hug. “Wow... I forgot how it was like to be corporeal for a moment there. It's painful.”

  
  


“Alright, you two... we have to go train as soon as possible. Madsta, you and Napsta have to help him alright?” Alphys instructed them. “I'll be here, working on some spare parts that Sans hadn't finished. If anyone needs my help, just come back here.”

  
  


“Understood, doctor!” Napstablook nodded and then he and Madsta assisted him to walk to the testing room.

  
  


The whole process was akin to Napstablook and Madsta's experiences when they fused with their bodies... they had to be trained and instructed what to do, but Shysta seemed to master his body quicker than expected. It only took him a day to have a full grasp of his normal functions like walking, picking up things, and even eating. It took him another day to take a grasp of his battle features that he would need to use for combat.

  
  


It was quicker than anyone expected him to learn... but they decided not to get distracted by Shysta's abilities and instead focused on the main mission; and that is to save the Spooks and Mettaton.

  
  


Enough days had passed by...

  
  


And honestly, it was calm and peaceful for all of them. In fact, too calm and peaceful that it was... fishy. There were no reports of any missing citizens, or anything that remotely resembled the attacks that Mettaton had done since he was reprogrammed. It felt a lot like the calm before the storm, according to them. Napstablook kept in touch with all his cousins in the MTT Hotel under tight security courtesy of Undyne's group in the police force, and fortunately, nobody was missing. Shysta and Madsta were training together these past couple of days so they could try to bring out the best in each other.

  
  


They were sitting on the floor of the testing room where Madsta first tested his abilities with the Blook. They were eating their snacks together as they both sat in a tailor's fashion across each other. Their food was in between them in containers; spaghetti made by Papyrus, ghost sandwiches made by Mai, and some homecooked imitation “Glamburgers” and fries by Napstablook. Only Napstablook's cooking looked edible, even to robots like them.

  
  


They started to eat their own “Glamburgers” quietly. Shysta averted his eyes while eating and looked at his cousin. His cousin looked so fixed on looking down at his burger while eating... that's when he felt that something was up.

  
  


“Anything bothering you, cousin?” asked Shysta. “Is it because Napsta made these?”

  
  


“...” Madsta blushed a little and shook his head. “It's not that...”

  
  


Shysta could tell that he wasn't lying. He just kept on eating as he stared at him; hopefully, if he stared at him enough, Madsta would start to open up. A few minutes had passed by...

  
  


“W-What are you looking at?” Madsta finally stopped munching on his burger and looked at his cousin. His eyes looked very emotive.

  
  


Shysta just kept on staring at him and then he just took a bite out of his burger. His younger cousin looked a little unsettled and just gritted his teeth and took a bite again. As the mint-coloured robot half-expected it, tears started to roll down Madsta's face.

  
  


“I'd like to have some of those. Maybe my burger would taste better.” said Shysta as he put his burger in front of Madsta's face.

  
  


“IDIOT!” Madsta growled.

  
  


“Come on, you're smiling.” Shysta smirked at him and then started to munch on his burger again. “... I'll 'bite'. What's up?”

  
  


“...” Madsta wiped his tears and cracked a small smile. “Sheesh... I guess this is why I kinda liked Sans. I-I... I'm just... I'm just glad you're back, cousin. I didn't know what happened to everyone... I didn't know if I'll ever see you again and I...”

  
  


The red robot couldn't continue his sentence and then he just started sobbing a little more audibly. Since the room was huge, his sobbing reverberated even if it wasn't that loud to begin with. He looked embarrassed at this and so he just laid his burger down on the ground with some paper towels underneath it.

  
  


Shysta picked up his cousin's burger and held it in front of the crying robot's face. “Blow.”

  
  


“Ew...” Madsta laughed a little at this as he kept on wiping his tears. “Ughhh... I should have asked them not to install my crying functions...”

  
  


“Hey, it's not bad to cry. Pain is there to protect you from anything that could potentially damage you. It's a defence mechanism.” said Shysta as he laid the burger back down on the paper towels and ate his own burger. “... I was afraid of that too. I thought I'd never see you again... but here we are, eating homemade burgers together. And we both have bodies now... isn't that what you always wanted?”

  
  


“I'm still not fully corporeal... but I could feel it. I'm starting to feel pain in this body. H-How about you?” said Madsta in a slightly shaky voice from crying, it started to glitch out.

  
  


“I'm fine. I just got this body a few days ago and I don't think I'll go corporeal that fast.” Shysta shrugged at this.

  
  


“... Do you like it?” Madsta asked rather innocently. He looked a little nervous. “I-I... I volunteered to paint your body for you a-and... and...”

  
  


“...?”

  
  


“... I made the dumbest mistake to put your green eye there when Sans already put in a white eye on your other socket!” Madsta blushed... his blush looked so intense that if the lights were off, his cheeks would be glowing in the dark. “I wanted to take it out, but your body was finalized and Sans said it looked fine s-so...”

  
  


“...” Shysta smirked... actually, he looked like he cracked a small smile at this. “It's okay, cuz. You did a great job.”

  
  


“O-Oh man!” Madsta stood up and left his burger again. “I forgot to get the coolants! Which flavour would you want? We have a variety of flavours out now s-so... I'm getting chocolate!”

  
  


“Do you have any green tea-flavoured ones?”

  
  


“Yeah! I'll go get em, you wait right here!”

  
  


Madsta scuttled out of the room to get them some coolants to help burn their food down to energy. The green Spook only watched him go out and then he started to examine his body; specifically, his paint job. He even grabbed one of the lids of the containers which was reflective just to look at his eyes. He slightly smiled at this and then just looked back at the door that his cousin left from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest when I say I love Madsta a little too much, the little tsundere... and now I'm beginning to love his cousin a lot more too. ♥
> 
> (12/31/16)  
> That was what I wrote when I first wrote that chapter. Currently, I am in love with Ruins Dummy (or Training Dummy) and I want to promote his existence. As per my fic, he is a Castlevania reject.  
> Who am I kidding though, I love all my bots!


	15. Setting Out

###  **Chapter 15: Setting Out**

  
  


“so you say that this is probably where you were held.”

  
  


“Yes.”

  
  


The setting was in the main laboratory, where they held the giant monitor Alphys uses to keep track of Monster City's maps. Sans was questioning Shysta at the time about where he had been held captive before he managed to be rescued outside of it as they both sat on their own chairs. He still looked haggard and tired, but he looked determined... Shysta's eyes just stayed strong and unswayed, but Madsta and Alphys peeked through the automatic door... both of them looked worried.

  
  


Sans managed to pinpoint an area in the map and then he marked it as important so that they may not forget about it.

  
  


“... where could this be?” Sans stared at the point and studied the map.

  
  


“Sans, you just recovered today!” Alphys didn't hesitate any longer and then rushed right inside just by his side. Madsta rushed inside the room as well, but stayed beside his cousin since he didn't really want to butt in.

  
  


“i don't care... alph... you know exactly why i'm doing this. please just let me be... alright?” Sans said seriously.

  
  


“Even your brother's getting worried! You didn't sleep for days STRAIGHT working on Shysta's body, and now you're straining yourself again!” Alphys tried to pry him away. “Sans, when are you going to tell him the truth?!”

  
  


Sans looked troubled at the time. He still didn't go away from the monitor, but he didn't look like he resisted violently. “i'll think about it, okay?”

  
  


“...” Shysta just stared at Sans during this time. “Tell him about what? Do you know our kidnapper?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


There was an awkward silence in the room. Madsta was... clueless. He may have grown to love Sans as a close friend, especially after working on his cousin's body together but... there could be more that he hasn't learned about this skeleton. What skeletons was he hiding in his closet...?

  
  


“... if i can't tell my brother, what makes you think i can tell you?” Sans looked rather serious at the time. “mind your own business, kid.”

  
  


“This IS my business.” Shysta stood from his seat rather insistently. He stared into Sans' eyes coldly, and the other did the same. If their looks could kill... “That kidnapper... whatever he is, kidnapped my whole clan. Only Madsta and I have remained safe. If Madsta didn't save me, then he would have been the last of our clan... you still think this isn't our business?”

  
  


“what good will it do if i tell you who he is?”

  
  


“Everything. We will know where he's coming from, what his possible motives could be, and what he may plan to do with our cousins.” Shysta didn't look unswayed, and neither did Sans.

  
  


Alphys and Madsta just looked at both of their childhood friends worriedly, and sometimes looked at each other as well, as if telling each other to hold them back should they start to fight given this tension. Thankfully, they didn't seem to lunge at each other, and Sans soon stopped glaring back.

  
  


“you're not ready.” Sans said as he looked back at the monitor. “i'll tell you someday.”

  
  


“When? When my family is wiped out from existence?!” Shysta's voice started to rise as he still kept a serious glare at Sans. He seemed like a rather collected individual most of the time, but this was his family they were talking about. “Do you want all of us to die before we know the nature of our kidnapper?”

  
  


“SANS...”

  
  


Someone else came inside that made Sans look... paler, than he already is. He couldn't turn back to where the voice came from, but he knew all too well who came in the room to speak out.

  
  


“pap...” he said as he kept his head bowed down on the panel connected to the giant monitor. He didn't do anything else, he just... leaned against the panel, both of his hands on it as he stared down at it blankly.

  
  


“SANS, I... I WASN'T TOO YOUNG TO FORGET EVERYTHING.” said Papyrus, which only made the silence in the room more awkward. “... PLEASE SANS... LET'S JUST FIND HIM. YOU MARKED THAT PLACE ON THE MAP, RIGHT? I CAN DRIVE US THERE.”

  
  


“pap... no, i want to handle this alone.” said Sans as he finally turned to him with his eyes dim.

  
  


“SANS, WE'RE BROTHERS. I CAN'T LET YOU DO THIS ALONE.” Papyrus took a step closer.

  
  


“My family is involved, I can't let you take all responsibility.” Shysta still remained firm as he seemed to stare into Sans' soul.

  
  


“And so is mine...”

  
  


Napstablook went inside the room and looked more determined than ever. He still looked confused and rather scared, but he decided to swallow it down. “I... guess this was more than just a kidnapping case, huh? It was more than kidnapping Pinky, Shysta, and the rest of the Spook clan...”

  
  


“We have a lead. I have a vague memory of where I was held, and these brothers know who this kidnapper is. Now let's go and not waste more time. Look at all the days that have passed by; we don't know what he has done to my cousins or to Mettaton!” Shysta growled a little. “Sans, let's fight this together. We don't know what we're up against... but you do. If you have protected my cousin in my absence, then I guess I have no choice but to trust you.”

  
  


“...” Sans' face softened a little, for a skeleton. He kept his hands in his pockets again, a mannerism he usually does. “... alright. let's do this.”

  
  


…

  
  


They all prepared a new plan... some of them will have to travel to the place they have marked on the map, and still some will have to stay back at home to guard the city's safety; especially the Blook clan's since the kidnapper seemed to target only ghosts. They have come to an agreement that Alphys will stay behind to monitor them from the screen, while Undyne led the police force of the city under red alert. Sans and Papyrus will have to go to the marked place with the three robots to rescue the ghosts, as well as Mettaton, from captivity. By then, Shysta had already practiced enough to be on the field with Napstablook and his cousin.

  
  


They had already sent Mai back to where the Blook clan had stayed; they stayed in the MTT Hotel where an entire floor was dedicated to them. This is so that they can all be kept safe and Undyne, along with the rest of her police force, will be able to keep a closer eye on them.

  
  


“let's just get everything ready, then let's go.” said Sans as he examined the lab a little more. “you guys tell me when you're ready.”

  
  


Papyrus and Alphys stayed with Sans, but the three robots all walked away from the laboratory proper and went up to their shared room... thankfully, the room was large enough to accommodate all of them. The tiny blue robot sat on the bed, while the two sat on the ground on each of their sleeping bags and seemed to just... take a breather.

  
  


“We're really going on that trip... I didn't think it would be so soon.” said Madsta. “I mean, we just got you a body, cousin... say, what do you think? Why do you think Sans acted like that? He's never acted like that before... it's strange.”

  
  


“Yeah... I've been with him a little longer and I've never seen this side of him before. It's honestly a little unnerving... I feel... pain and confusion from him.” said Napstablook as he took the stuffed plush toy that Papyrus had given him some weeks back.

  
  


“... Does it have a name?” said Shysta as he stared at the stuffed rabbit.

  
  


“... Bun. Why do you ask?” asked Napstablook as he felt a little confused at Shysta's sudden remark.

  
  


“I just wanted to ask. There's nothing wrong in asking.” Shysta nodded and then he just sighed a little. “I'm willing to bet they've had a history together. Let's just wait and see if my hunch is correct...”

  
  


Madsta furrowed his brows a little, looking a little confused... so he just decided to lean over and nudge his cousin with his head a little. He huffed and puffed his cheeks as he did so, looking like a child all the while he tried to get his cousin's attention.

  
  


“Yes, Madsta?” Shysta smirked a little at this.

  
  


“Nothing.” said Madsta with bloated cheeks as he kept on nudging his cousin's shoulder with his head. “... I just miss those times when we had little to nothing to worry about...”

  
  


“I know, Mads... I know. I do too.” said Shysta as he just patted his head a little.

  
  


Napstablook stretched on the bed and then just stared at them; he looked happy seeing the cousins together like this. He still had the rest of the Blook clan though Mettaton was not by his side... but these two only had each other right now. He was glad that Madsta finally had someone from his family to keep him company... it would have been hard to be the last of his clan... he just hugged the bunny plush and seemed to tell it to keep watch while they were gone.

  
  


“Well now, we must get our things ready.” said Shysta as he kept on patting his cousin's head. He looked around and then eventually stopped to stare at Napstablook. “You've been in your robot body longer than us... what do you recommend we bring along to sustain ourselves?”

  
  


“Oh...” Napstablook was a little surprised by the sudden attention and just paused for a while before getting the right words to say. “Umm... well, I'm bringing along my extra headset for extra power... it acts as a power bank, you see. I think you have some similar power banks you can plug in your abdomen! Since your abdomen is a compartment unlike mine, I'm sure Sans has something for you...”

  
  


His body was engineered by Alphys, just like Mettaton... so their bodies were similar. Madsta's and Shysta's bodies, however, were engineered mainly by Sans. Since Alphys pioneered the robot-making project for the ghosts, Sans patterned some of his designs on her works and added some modifications and alterations of his own. His designs seemed to be more focused on specialisation, whereas Alphys' robots seemed more well-rounded though not as powerful.

  
  


Eventually, Alphys and Sans figured out what to pack for their robots; their extra fuel, their power banks, their spare parts and weapons... and of course, their first aid kit should they have any injuries. All three robots were set on saving their family from this kidnapper who had come out of nowhere to disturb their peaceful lives.

  
  


Undyne provided them with a police car just waiting outside. They did have a garage where some of the experiments were kept, so Undyne parked it and waited for all of them before deciding to dispatch and ensure the safety of the city under red alert.

  
  


As Papyrus and the robots went out to the garage with all their belongings, Alphys laid her hand on Sans' shoulder; as if holding him back. The skeleton stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn his head right away.

  
  


“Sans... please take care of yourselves.” said Alphys worriedly.

  
  


That was when Sans turned to her with a soft expression on his face... he also laid a hand on her shoulder, and then drew her to a tight embrace. He rested his head on her shoulder, which surprised the yellow lizard. It wasn't a negative feeling for her though... it was just surprising. He parted from her and then he nodded.

  
  


“we'll be safe... i promise. we'll bring mettaton back.”

  
  


“I-I know you will.” Alphys nodded back, still in shock. “G-Good luck!”

  
  


Sans smiled at her and then he followed the rest to the garage, where the others had gone. He huffed deeply and then put his belongings in the back of the car.

  
  


The car that Undyne had provided was actually quite spacious; in fact, it wasn't actually a “car”... Undyne had gotten them a van. This was so that they would have enough space for whatever they brought along in their trip, given they were on a rescue mission. The three robots just looked at the blue skeleton as he arranged all their belongings in the back of the van, while the taller skeleton had already been warming himself up to drive a different vehicle.

  
  


“You sure you can handle this baby, Pap?” Undyne asked as she peeked in the driver's seat. She had already donned her police uniform and she tipped her hat at him.

  
  


“YEAH, I'M SURE I CAN HANDLE HER! I HOPE SHE'D TAKE IT EASY ON ME! NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus laughed a little as he pressed the horn.

  
  


Madsta, who was trying to drink some coolants to well... cool himself down, was so surprised by the sudden horn that he spurted out some coolant from his nose and mouth. He began cussing about it. “THAT HUUUUURT...”

  
  


“OOPS!! SORRY, MADS! CAN I HELP YOU THERE?” Papyrus looked worried as he peeked out of his window.

  
  


“It's cool. Mads is just a baby.” Shysta patted his cousin's head. “Come now, we wrestle all the time and you handle KNIVES... then you whine like a baby just spurting some coolants out of your nose and mouth?”

  
  


“It's a different kind of pain, you wouldn't understand!” Madsta whined.

  
  


Napstablook just giggled a little at this and then he went inside of the van. Shysta saw this and then he helped Madsta clean up his face before nudging him to follow the cute little blue bot. The red robot looked a little confused and embarrassed, but the green robot wouldn't have it.

  
  


“Hey, Sans. Why don't I help you there?” said the silver-haired robot as he left his cousin alone awkwardly.

  
  


Madsta growled a little at this and then he just stared at Napstablook sitting by the window seat of the car. He was just directly behind the passenger's seat reserved for the short skeleton. The fiery robot gulped a little at this, not knowing how he should approach the cute little robot...

  
  


'Whatever happens, happens! Whatever. Whatever! WHATEVER!' he thought to himself as he went inside of the car, just beside Napstablook. He gulped again, not knowing why he feels so nervous around the little bot... but he had to be brave and strike up a conversation. “Hey uh... Naps?”

  
  


“Oh... Maddie! I... I thought you were still with Shysta?” said the little robot. He looked up at him with his beautiful eyes.

  
  


“...” Madsta blushed a little at this and then he just scratched the back of his head. “Nah, Shysta decided to help out Sans with the stuff we were gonna bring. How are you holding up? I-I mean... according to our calculations, our trip will take us about a day... uh... are you okay with that? I-I mean...”

  
  


“Yeah... I'd be fine with anything if it means I'll get Pinky back again...” said Napstablook, his face in both a mix of sadness and determination. “And of course... your family too. It wasn't fair...... t-they didn't deserve this....”

  
  


“Nobody did, Nap-Nap... especially you. You've been through a lot...” Madsta said as he laid a hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and then he just tried to find the right words to say. He wasn't really good with words... “But after this, I'm sure everything will be fine! As if nothing happened!”

  
  


Napstablook smiled up at him and then he just looked down at his own sweater. It was made by Mettaton... of course he had to get him back, no matter the cost. He wants Mettaton back... and he doesn't want just something to remember him by. He wasn't sure how to save him, but with friends like Madsta by his side, he was sure that all of them will come back safely.

  
  


Madsta didn't really understand, but he felt the need to hug the blue robot. He suddenly just drew him into a hug and then started to ruffle his hair. He felt brave today...

  
  


... but Napstablook didn't seem to hug back. He felt a little... weird, so he didn't really move much in the embrace. He just waited for him to stop...

  
  


... The red robot felt this and so he stopped hugging him and just parted. “... I-I'm sorry, did you want a hug?”

  
  


“Well... friendly hugs are really fine, I guess...” said Napstablook as he smiled a little at him.

  
  


... It felt much more awkward now. By then, Shysta and Sans had just finished arranging their stuff at the back of the van and they were all ready to go. After some double checking, they all went in the van and secured themselves. Madsta sat between Napstablook and Shysta, then Sans sat on the passenger's seat just beside Papyrus who was to drive their vehicle.

  
  


“Good luck, you guys. Make sure you all come back in one piece or I'll kill ya!” Undyne cackled a little and then patted Papyrus' shoulder. “Make me proud!”

  
  


“OF COURSE, UNDYNE! AND WHEN WE GET BACK, THIS CITY BETTER BE IN ONE PIECE TOO OR I'LL PUT ICE CUBES IN YOUR SPAGHETTI!” Papyrus laughed a little and then he fixed the mirrors of the van. “SEE YA!!”

  
  


Papyrus opened the driver's car door and then gave Undyne a tight hug, as in a farewell hug as well as a good luck one for each other. He shut the door again and started the engine. As soon as the engine started to purr, Alphys came out to the garage and stayed by the policewoman's side. Both of them waved them goodbye as they drove off to fulfill their rescue mission...

  
  


***

  
  


Madsta and Napstablook seemed... awfully awkward during the first few minutes of the trip since they set out of Monster City. They must be about an hour out of Monster City and the silence between the two was so... unsettling, to an extent. The skelebros must have noticed this and so they decided to play some tunes on their car stereo system.

  
  


Papyrus picked out a disc that he first laid his hand on and then placed it on the disc tray.

  
  


“...”

  
  


> “ _..._ _얼마나 얼마나 더 너를_ _  
> __이렇게 바라만 보며 혼자_ _  
> __이 바람같은 사랑 이 거지같은 사랑_ _  
> __계속해야 니가 나를 사랑하겠니”_

  
  


The song was in Korean, but they all knew what the song meant since some of they have already seen the translation before, and Napstablook had been trying to get the Korean language installed in his system. The song basically started with “How much, how much more... do I have to just look at you like this, alone? This beggar-like love, this useless love... if I continue this, will you love me?”

  
  


...

  
  


Sans and Madsta began to act even more weirdly than usual... the skeleton put his hood on his head and basically snuggled against his door, while the red robot slouched even more on the car seat and just sulked there. Napstablook was just beside him... this was all too awkward...

  
  


“Papyrus. Wouldn't it be better if we all sang ourselves a song right now? What songs do you know?” asked Shysta as he signaled him to eject the CD, STAT.

  
  


“IIIIIIIIIII'M A GOOFY GOOBER YAAAAA!!” Papyrus blurted out as he ejected the CD and slid it in the CD case again.

  
  


“Yeah, have fun with that.” Shysta leaned back on his seat and then just looked out of the window.

  
  


Eventually, the trip became much longer... three hours into the trip and Sans started to doze off on his seat. It was a usual habit of his; though it was now more prominent given the stress he had gotten himself into while working on Shysta's body.

  
  


Madsta had fallen asleep as well as he leaned his head back and snored lightly. Napstablook had fallen asleep by then too, but instead of falling asleep on the window, he had leaned his head against the red robot's shoulder... the green robot, however... felt a little jealous of the dozing guys that he leaned against his cousin's other shoulder but didn't get to sleep. He just thought it was relaxing to lean against something.

  
  


“HEY, SHYSTA. HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP THERE?” Papyrus said as he continued to drive.

  
  


“I'm fine. I should be asking that to you. Do you think you can drive long enough before anyone can take your place there?” Shysta asked as he just looked at the rear view mirror.

  
  


“YEAH WELL, I'M OKAY WITH THIS. SANS CAN DRIVE WHEN HE'S UP AND AWAKE! BUT LATELY HE'S BEEN REALLY SLEEPY LATELY...” Papyrus replied and then he hit the horn a little to entertain himself. “IT'S NOT LIKE ANYONE MINDS IT HERE! THERE'S BARELY ANY CARS!”

  
  


“Yeah...” the long-haired robot shrugged at this. “Sans did a good job on my body. I really don't know how to thank him enough.”

  
  


“YEAH...”

  
  


Now that only the two of them were awake, Shysta decided to ask Papyrus... something, about his captor. It seemed that both the skelebros knew who had captured him, and neither still spoke about him. He thought he had the right to know. After all, this person just kidnapped him!

  
  


“Papyrus, do you know anything about this kidnapper of ours? Sans won't talk about it.” said Shysta as he sounded a little more serious.

  
  


“... OH. UH...” the tall skeleton started to sound awkward, as if he didn't know what to say. “I'M GONNA BE HONEST, I REALLY DON'T KNOW THE FULL DETAILS. ALL I KNOW IS THAT... I PROBABLY MET THIS PERSON SOMEWHERE AND I PROBABLY HAD FOND MEMORIES WITH THEM?”

  
  


“Fond memories?”

  
  


“YEAH! THAT'S WHY I'M SO CONFUSED... WHY WOULD I SHARE FOND MEMORIES WITH A KIDNAPPER?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


It seemed that Shysta couldn't get anything else from the skeleton, so he decided not to pry any further for now. Besides, Papyrus doesn't look like the kind of person to lie or to keep secrets... that looked more like Sans' job. Whatever was that short skeleton hiding from everyone...? These two were probably directly linked to their kidnapper, if what Papyrus had said was true. But why... and more importantly, how?

  
  


He didn't know what to feel about the two anymore. Given everything that had happened, he didn't know if he could trust them... so he opted not to sleep and just kept watch over the other two robots as the trip went on. He was intent on waiting for Sans to wake up so they could have a little talk with each other.

  
  


For the remainder of the first half of the trip, Papyrus found a motel to stay in. Sadly, the only other MTT Hotel that had made it past Monster City was at least an hour's worth past them already and they needed a place to stay ASAP. He decided to park the car and then wake his brother up from his nap.

  
  


“huh... hey. hey, kiddos. time to get us some rooms to sleep in before we head out for the real thing tomorrow.” said Sans as he went out of the car.

  
  


His brother decided to get out of the car as well to stretch a little and then help him get some of their personal belongings like extra clothes and toiletries out of the car. The spare parts stayed and they made sure the car was securely locked as well as the containers the parts were in. Both of them dragged the bags to the motel doors and urged the other robots to follow them.

  
  


Shysta shook his cousin and the other robot awake. “Hey, you two... let's get up, now. You can both sleep in our rooms.”

  
  


“Huh? Where are we...” Madsta mumbled as he dizzily looked around.

  
  


“We stopped by a motel. We're getting some rest before we hit the road again tomorrow. Actually... we should be only three hours away by now. We spent the whole day traveling...” Shysta helped them out of the car and made sure they didn't topple over or anything. That was his job as a dummy back then... and it wasn't too fun always toppling over, to be quite honest.

  
  


When they followed the brothers inside, they had already asked for two rooms. Sans and Papyrus get to stay in one room, while the other three stayed in another; luckily, both rooms were across each other so that if anyone needed anything, they can just walk over to each other's doors.

  
  


Before they parted to their own rooms, Shysta seemed to take a glance at Sans, who also looked back at him. They seemed to be able to communicate with each other rather well through gazes... this was all before they decided to go into their own rooms to settle their things before anything else.

  
  


There were three beds... and it looked quite cozy though not nearly as grand as any room in the MTT hotel. It looked quite rustic, really; the floors and the furniture looked a little like they came from the 70's and all they needed was a record player to complete the rustic feel to it. The washroom was just by the entrance of the room, just across their closet; and then there was a window by the other end of the room. There was just enough space for the three of them to move about.

  
  


This was a human-operated motel. Thankfully for them, the people didn't seem to be racist or discriminant, but they couldn't help but feel a little at unease compared to staying in a monster-operated hotel like Mettaton's... they couldn't help but compare Mettaton's beautiful hotel to this although; this was just a motel, so it was probably meant to be not nearly as grand as hotels in the cities.

  
  


The three ghost-robots settled their own personal belongings in the room and Madsta seemed to just grab the bed nearest to the wall that partitioned the bathroom, while Napstablook grabbed the bed nearest to the window. Shysta was left with the bed in the middle... he studied his roommates as he just sat down on it.

  
  


Napstablook and Madsta seemed awkward with each other since the beginning of the trip. He looked like he knew exactly what was going on, but didn't seem to want to open up a topic about it. He just let the two ghosts be and just gave them reminders. “Remember, we go off first thing in the morning. Don't get too comfortable so we won't have to pack too many things later on.”

  
  


“Yeah, yeah...” Madsta said and then he just lied down on his own bed.

  
  


“I understand...” said Napstablook with a nod and then just sat on his own bed and listened to his own music, all while staring out at the window. He seemed to watch the stars the way he did with Mettaton that night that he lost him...

  
  


Later that night... when both of his roommates were asleep, Shysta checked on their clock.

  
  


It was nearly midnight.

  
  


He decided to get up and take a survey of their surroundings, just to make sure the two were asleep. It was a rainy night back then, so he decided to close the curtains since Napstablook seemed to have slept through it. He tucked Napstablook back to sleep and arranged his things a little, and did the same to Madsta although he patted his younger cousin's head before leaving the room and locking the door behind him.

  
  


He looked like he was about to knock on the skelebros' door, but before him stood Sans. He was just staring at him...

  
  


***

  
  


“you wanted to talk to me, right?” said Sans.  
  
  


  
  


Both of them were in the motel cafe. It was already dark by then, and with the setting of their motel and the weather outside... the place looked quite foggy, although not as foggy as it was outside. They could barely see the rain with the somewhat thick fog that enveloped the place. It seemed that only the two of them were up that late at night and so they decided to take a table for two to settle down on.

  
  


“...”

  
  


They sat across each other and seemed to stay silent as the pitter patter of the rain started to shower down more harshly.

  
  


Sans leaned over a little more while Shysta seemed to relax on his own chair.

  
  


“what did you want to talk about?” Sans said as he looked up at the robot in the dim light.

  
  


“We're going to meet our kidnapper tomorrow. Isn't this the right time to tell me all about it?” Shysta started, his voice calm but insistent.

  
  


“...” Sans leaned back on his seat as well and rested his head on his arms as he looked down at him. “so you really want to know who we're dealing with? you'd hate me.”

  
  


“...” Shysta just stared at him insistently and rather coldly.

  
  


“the one who we're dealing with... i don't even know why he's doing this. i used to look up to him...” Sans sounded rather firm and somehow... sad. “all i know is that he used to be with us. pap barely remembers him, and alph... well... i told her about it when we met. she had the right to know.”

  
  


“So do you remember him clearly?”

  
  


“barely. i only have this childhood doodle of him to remember him by, else i'd forget about him. wanna see?”

  
  


Sans took out a piece of folded paper from his pockets and then handed it over to Shysta. The robot cautiously unfolded it and then stared at it. It looked like a rather innocent, yet rushed doodle of three people... one of them was taller, the other two seemed like... children, that resembled both Sans and Papyrus. The taller man... indeed looked like their captor. There was a relationship between the three...

  
  


“... Alphys had the right to know. Why?” Shysta said as he looked down at the paper.

  
  


“... alph... was my childhood best friend.” said Sans as he just seemed to look back at him. “i hadn't been treating her right... and yesterday may have been the last time that i'll ever see her.”

  
  


“...” Shysta slid the paper back to Sans and leaned back on his seat again. “Sans, are you afraid?”

  
  


“...” Sans just closed his eyes and then leaned back down on his chair. “... yes. because this feels like it's repeating history...”

  
  


Shysta seemed to soften a little bit as he just tilted his head a little bit. “Repeating history, huh.”

  
  


The rain didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon... the mint robot looked out the window and it seemed like there was zero visibility outside. It was weird, since earlier today it was a starry night with no signs that it would be raining this hard... maybe it was their location's geography? They were some 7 hours away from the city by now.

  
  


***

  
  


Meanwhile, back in the room of the ghost-robots...

  
  


Everything seemed calm, til Napstablook started to flinch and twist on his bed. The bedsheets rustled a little loudly as it echoed in the room despite the heavy rainfall from outside.

  
  


“N-No... NO! NO!!” Napstablook started to cry out loud.

  
  


This alerted the red robot and then he immediately bolted out of his bed as he rushed to the blue robot. He didn't care if he was still plugged in to charge... Napstablook needed him. He shook him awake while calling out his name. “Naps? NAPS! Naps, wake up! Nap-Nap, it's just a dream!”

  
  


“...!” Napstablook bolted awake with a gasp and then looked around. His eyes were full of tears and then he started to cry to himself. “Pinky...”

  
  


Madsta looked horribly worried and so he sat beside him and hugged him tightly so that the tiny robot's head was leaning on his shoulder. “You had a bad dream about Mettaton, huh...?”

  
  


“...” Napstablook nodded a little as he just cried on the bigger robot, feeling a little safer in his big, safe arms. “I dreamt that I was going to lose him all over again...”

  
  


“Shhh...” Madsta calmed him down and ruffled his hair a little. He wouldn't deny he was blushing a little but... this matter was urgent. The poor innocent little robot... even his dreams were tormenting him. “We'll be getting him back tomorrow, alright? Him and the rest of my family...”

  
  


“I-I know... I know...” said Napstablook as his voice glitched out of crying so much.

  
  


“Why don't you go back to sleep? You need to rest. I'll stay here by your side to see if you get bad dreams again so I can beat them up for you.” Madsta humoured him a little. “I'll be your dreamcatcher for the night!”

  
  


“...” Napstablook couldn't bring himself to giggle at this, though he was already giggling inside. “Thank you... Maddie...”

  
  


“It's...” Madsta gulped a little, and looked sad. “... It's what... friends do, right...?”

  
  


“Y-Yes...” Napstablook nodded and then went back to sleep, this time, facing Madsta instead of the window.

  
  


The red robot looked like he tried to find an outlet near Napstablook and then he just sat on the ground beside the blue robot so he can watch over him. He didn't seem to mind sleeping while sitting on the ground; he was used to sleeping on the ground as a ghost, and most importantly, he wanted to keep an eye on the poor tiny robot for any further nightmares since his cousin seemed to be out.

  
  


“... Goodnight, Nap-Nap...” Madsta smiled, although it looked quite... sad. He started to drift off as well after seeing that the blue robot had gone back to sleep mode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhHHHHHHH I'm a little bitter about this chapter. It was almost too painful to write for both Mads and Sans...
> 
> Oh and for anyone curious... this is the Korean song I put in there.
> 
> [Secret Garden OST] That Man - Hyun Bin  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF0RQInF9IM
> 
> The one I put in the song was the refrain. Still learning Korean and still can't read Hangul, but I decided to put Hangul there instead of the romanized lyrics!
> 
> (01/01/2017)  
> Have a Happy New Year, everyone! Wishing you love and prosperity from the Philippines!


	16. Curious Approach

###  **Chapter 16: Curious Approach**

  
  


The next day, they all decided to set out on the road once more after checking out from the motel early that morning. The robots all sat in their same positions as the day before, although the skeleton brothers decided to switch places; Sans was now behind the driving wheel so that Papyrus can rest from his long drive.

  
  


Napstablook leaned against the window as he just watched the view of the endless flower fields... the day before his cousin Mettaton went missing, they still had the time to frolick in the fields and watch the beautiful starry sky... such memories can go from happy to depressing especially quick.

  
  


Madsta noticed this look in his face, but he didn't seem to do anything about it. He was still embarrassed from the day before when he actually hugged the tiny robot all of a sudden... that was embarrassing. He hoped it didn't affect their friendship in any way...

  
  


“hey, how are you guys holding up back there?” said Sans as he drove and peered at them from the rear view mirror.

  
  


“We're fine, thanks.” said Shysta.

  
  


“huh... and you mads? you've been unusually quiet since yesterday.”

  
  


“... Yeah I'm fine.” said Madsta... he didn't seem to be good at hiding his feelings. He was still troubled with how he had treated Napstablook from yesterday and seemed to put him at unease...

  
  


His cousin saw this... he saw his own cousin sleep on the floor just to watch over Napstablook the last night. He just stared at his cousin for a while and then he just nodded at Sans. “Hey, are we near yet?”

  
  


“yeah uh... pap? could you check on the navigator and tell me where we are and when we'll arrive there?”

  
  


“HMMM... WELL, IT'S DIRECTLY NORTHEAST OF US SO I THINK WE COULD GET THERE IN ABOUT THREE MORE HOURS!” said Papyrus as he checked on the pocket navigator that Alphys had given them.

  
  


When the shorter skeleton heard this, he seemed to tap his bony fingers on the wheel and then he turned to grin a little wider at his brother. The mint robot from the backseat noticed this and felt something... ominous, so he scooted a little closer to Madsta. The red robot didn't seem to mind; he was still a little preoccupied from the earlier day's events.

  
  


“pap, put my song on. we're getting there soon.” said Sans.

  
  


Papyrus nodded at this and then he put a song on the car's stereo system; the song sounded like it started with a somewhat quiet intro... something that the mint robot found even more ominous. When the song started to turn up, it blared in the car as Sans stepped on the gas harder.

  
  


“What the FUUUUUUUUUUU-” Madsta managed to grab onto the car seats before him before he was thrown to the back compartment of the van where they kept their equipment. “What's the big IDEA?!”

  
  


Shysta saw this coming and so he grabbed his cousin's arm tight, while Napstablook felt shaken too and so he hugged the robot beside him tightly. This made the red robot's face as red as his armour, but he knew all too well that the tiny robot had done this out of fear for dear life... Sans was going at an immense speed, taking over the cars before them! He wondered if they were above the speed limit...

  
  


… but they actually weren't, surprisingly. The short skeleton was still able to maintain the speed exactly at the limit and so they weren't in trouble with the authorities... besides, they were using a police van provided by Monster City's police head. They probably were allowed to go above the speed limit if they wanted, but Sans chose not to.

  
  


Not yet, anyway.

  
  


When Sans saw that there were only a minimal number of cars in an area, he decided to floor it and all that the others could do was hold on tight. Madsta was screaming the loudest; he sounded like he was riding an amusement park ride and he cussed about 10 words per second. Shysta looked at Napstablook a little from where he sat and made sure that he wore his headset for his virgin ears to be spared of such profanity. He was wearing them, and he was holding tightly onto the red Spook.

  
  


“pap, where to?” asked Sans as he continued to drive at the same fast pace.

  
  


“TO THE RIGHT!” Papyrus pointed at a direction. He seemed relaxed, like this was all normal for him.

  
  


The others looked like they were about to die.

  
  


Sans swiftly turned the wheel and swerved to the right where Papyrus had pointed and they were soon out of the main expressway. They were in a smaller expressway where signs indicating a familiar place was nearby.

  
  


Mt. Ebott.

  
  


It was only a few kilometres away and it was actually in view.

  
  


Ironically, the monsters didn't build a city near Mt. Ebott. They didn't want to be reminded of the mountain entrance they had come out of; it reminded them of their oppression as the monster race. However, it also served as their reminder of freedom that they have triumphed over the oppression of humans over them thanks to another human. A pure child, the fool, untainted by worldly pleasures.

  
  


They had been driving for a while now and Sans had since then slowed down. The car was running at a considerably normal pace again since hardly anyone was driving anyway...

  
  


“pap. now where do we go? don't tell me we have to go to mt. ebott.” said Sans as he looked ahead.

  
  


“... ACTUALLY, THE NAVIGATOR SAYS WE HAVE TO GO LEFT.”

  
  


The robots were silent. Mads had since then calmed down after Shysta patted his back enough; Napstablook was leaning against the window out of the earlier sudden gush of emotions. It was unclear if the feelings were described as stressful or adrenaline rush, or both. Shysta looked at them with confusion upon hearing the two talk.

  
  


“... There is no left.” said Shysta. “I should know. Sans, you programmed a basic navigator inside of me too.”

  
  


Shysta had a navigator inside of him, although not as advanced as the one that Papyrus was using right now. He didn't want to use much of his navigator either since he wanted to save his power to face whatever was holding Mettaton and his family captive.

  
  


“if we have to turn left, we have to turn left.” said Sans and then he swerved off the road to where the spot on the map was.

  
  


The robots held on tightly again as it was a bumpy ride for all of them. It was nowhere as intense as earlier though, since Sans seemed to drive along the bumpy, rocky path carefully. They were driving to the direction of Mt. Ebott, they noticed.

  
  


“IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE WE'RE GOING TO MT. EBOTT AT ALL, THOUGH! SEE?” Papyrus showed the others. The spot was about half a mile away from Mt. Ebott... it brought them relief, however it also brought them inexplicable anxiety.

  
  


What in the world were they getting themselves into?

  
  


They had been driving on the dusty, rocky path for what seemed to be about five minutes before they came across a thick fog. There was zero visibility. Sans turned on his headlights, but it didn't help at all. The path they were driving along was as obscure as ever, and even if they tried going back, they didn't seem to find the road they came from again.

  
  


That was when Napstablook started to whimper. When Madsta looked at him, he looked like he was in immense pain as he put his hands on his heart container... the red robot grew worried. He was about to check on him, but the blue robot let out a cry of pain.

  
  


“It hurts... it hurts...!! HAAAAHHHH IT HURTS!!” Napstablook cried. He leaned on the closest thing next to him, which happened to be Madsta's shoulder. He started to cry on him. “IT HURTS...”

  
  


“Nap-Nap... Sans! Sans we have to stop and help him!” said Madsta, but he too started to feel a sharp pain to his heart core. “GAH!”

  
  


“Sans, something's definitely acting up in their systems. I'm afraid I could go next.” said Shysta.

  
  


The car stopped and Sans looked back at them worriedly. “i have a feeling we're in twilight zone, folks. pap, take the wheel. i'm checking on these two.”

  
  


Shysta groaned and then he just leaned against the window, his hair obscuring his face. “Sans... it hurts. I... don't know what it is... I feel like I'm going to die.”

  
  


When Sans was about to take care of them, he caught a glimpse of Shysta's obscured face. Something about it sent shivers down his spine... the way the robot looked at him... what was it about him? He looked back at the other two who had been crying and groaning in pain.

  
  


Napstablook looked like he was in so much pain that his face was a mess with tears streaming down. He tried to check on the heart core if there was any malfunction to it... there was none, really. He couldn't find a darn thing wrong about it. He did the same to the other two...

  
  


Nothing. What was going on?

  
  


When he caught glimpse of Shysta's face again as he worked on him, he froze. There was nothing wrong about it, but what kind of eerie feelings is he having right now? Something wasn't right. They were still in the middle of nowhere, stranded in a sea of fog.

  
  


“HUSH NOW.” said Shysta as he grabbed Sans' face.

  
  


Everything went black.

  
  


***

  
  


“...”

  
  


When Sans came to, he was in the backseat with Shysta trying to wake him up.

  
  


“Hey. Are you alright?” said Shysta in a calm tone.

  
  


“yeah. what happened?” asked Sans as he shook his head to try and make sense of the world.

  
  


“You passed out. Listen, we made it past the fog somehow but... I don't know. It feels strange.” said Shysta as he looked out of the van. “Mads and Naps are outside, trying to get familiar with wherever we are.”

  
  


“where's pap?” said Sans as Shysta helped him get off the van. His head was aching... what exactly happened before he passed out? He remembered Shysta acting strange... it was all coming back. The robots were all acting strange, and Shysta kept on giving him strange vibes. He was wary with Shysta helping him out, but he felt nothing wrong with the robot unlike before.

  
  


“Papyrus is with the two, trying to gather clues and playing detective.” Shysta said as they finally stepped out of the van.  
  
  


  
The place was indeed curious. It was a town; it looked like a small town with houses made of stones and bricks. There was a fountain in the middle of it all, and it looked like it was running smoothly. In the distance, one could see a view of Mt. Ebott. It didn't look as intimidating as it should for some reason. Cirrus clouds were hovering over them, indicating a beautiful day outside with birds singing and flowers blooming round the houses.

  
  


It actually looked like a quite serene and dainty town.

  
  


What struck them as strange was that they haven't seen a single soul yet. Were they all inside their houses? What was going on?

  
  


“SANS! YOU'RE AWAKE! YOU FEELING OKAY, BRO?” Papyrus said as he rushed to him. He was previously inspecting a flower.

  
  


“yeah i'm good. just a little headache, that's all. what's up?”

  
  


“UH, NOTHING YET! JUST THIS TOWN!”

  
  


“i don't see this town floating above the ground.”

  
  


“SANS!!”

  
  


Sans looked like he just won one over Papyrus again. But seriously, he felt weird too. He wanted to find out what it was about this town that they felt wary about. It didn't put them to total unease, it just gave them weird vibes they couldn't put a finger on.

  
  


“It's weird, though.” said Shysta as he showed Sans the navigator they were using for the whole trip. “We're here.”

  
  


Sans looked at the navigator curiously, trying to make sense of it.

  
  


“None of it makes sense...” said Napstablook, who now looked much better than before. “It says we're here, but I see no Pinky...”

  
  


“... Or our family, no less!” Madsta added. “Are you sure that thing's not malfunctioning?”

  
  


“I'm sure it's not.” Shysta debated. “Because even my GPS indicates the same place. What we're looking for is here, but we have no idea yet. I think we should split up and look for clues.”

  
  


“YEAH!! THE YOUNG ONES AND THE OLD ONES EACH FORM GROUPS AND SEE WHO GETS THE CLUES FIRST!” Papyrus perked up and rushed to both Madsta and Napstablook.

  
  


“are you calling us old?” Sans laughed a little.

  
  


“WELL YOU TWO ARE OLDER THAN US! YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME AND SHYSTA'S OLDER THAN MADSTA SO WE'RE ALL EVEN! NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus laughed and then held both Madsta and Napsta's hands in each of his own. “GOOD LUCK! TEAM YOUNG'S GONNA OWN YOU! YOU'D LIKE THAT, WOULDN'T YOU SANS??”

  
  


Papyrus ran off with his teammates, his lingering laughter trailing off as they went further in the other places of the town.

  
  


“Heh. Lively guy.” Shysta sighed a little. “Guess that leaves just you and me.”

  
  


“yeah. we're old.” said Sans.

  
  


The two members of “Team Old” decided to walk around in a different part of the curious town. In their walk together, they still saw no signs of a fellow monster or a human being. They tried to knock on the doors of some houses, but no response came. They tried to peek in windows as well... nothing, although they could see that some houses had lit candles and prepared meals on dining tables...

  
  


“did the people just suddenly feel like evacuating?”

  
  


They both sat on a bench near the town fountain to stop and think for a while. They had started to lose focus of what they were doing there in the first place; it was the place marked on the map where they should find Mettaton but... neither Mettaton nor the Spook family showed up, and to top it all off, they ended up in this strange village after that fog ordeal.

  
  


Fog ordeal. Sans remembered.

  
  


“shysta, did you just grab my face before i passed out?”

  
  


“...” Shysta tried to recall. “Uh... I had no idea, sorry. All I know is that my systems hurt and then I seemed to have passed out as well. Papyrus shook me awake after giving up on you since he said you were hard to wake up. We woke up the other two, then I finally decided to wake you up after an hour or so.”

  
  


“i see.”

  
  


Was it all a dream, then? And how did they end up here, anyway?

  
  


“Papyrus didn't seem to know how he got here. He said he fell asleep on the wheel and when he came to, we were already settled here.”

  
  


“sounds fishy.”

  
  


“I know.”

  
  


They both fell quiet for a while as they just stared at the fountain in front of them. The green robot sighed and walked over to it. He just stared down at his reflection on the rippling surface...

  
  


Sans followed him and stood by his side.

  
  


“I still can't believe that's me now.” said Shysta as he just stared down at himself. “Back home, I was just a tiny ghost with little to no ambitions in life. I remember leaving the Waterfall back then before Mads and I parted our ways... it felt kind of lonely.”

  
  


“actually, i didn't get to see you before all this. where did you live after you have left the waterfall?”

  
  


“Some of our family members actually had no permanent homes. We used to live by the garbage dump near the Waterfall, but some of us wandered off early to find bodies. Many others ended up as dummies because it was easy to possess them and turn corporeal.” said Shysta and then he looked at his hands and moved them a little. “Sans... thank you for making this body for me. You didn't really need to go through all the trouble.”

  
  


“hey no prob. mads wanted to help me make you one so you gotta thank him too.” Sans winked at him.

  
  


“To be honest, I can relate with Napstablook. Neither of us really craved for a body, but they... he, seemed more insistent about it. That's why I'm surprised that he's a robot now.” said Shysta as he raised his brow a little.

  
  


“hey, it's cool whether or not to want to have a body. that's your choice.” Sans shrugged. “if you want one, get one. if not, why bother? if i were a ghost, i probably wouldn't wanna spend my time looking for a body.”

  
  


“Heh.” Shysta smirked a little at this, then his usual blank expression came back. “I wonder how Fri- I mean, Mettaton's doing.”

  
  


Sans eyed the robot upon hearing the pink robot's name.

  
  


“why would you ask that?”

  
  


“He's among the ghosts in captive. I have no idea what's happened to him, hearing him attack my cousin and his own cousin...”

  
  


“i heard that some foreign substance was mixed in his oil. that's probably... it...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


There was an awkward silence between the two as the wind fluttered by them and swept Shysta's hair off his face a little. Sans looked down at the rippling water as well and felt a little uneasy, remembering the feeling he had before that pushed him to go on this mission.

  
  


“Sans, who is this person who captured my family? You can tell me.”

  
  


“... his name.” Sans started to feel so conflicted upon trying to recall everything... “His name is Dr. W.D. Gaster. I suspected he was your kidnapper after I have heard of your description of him.”

  
  


“You seem to know him fairly well, based on your reactions.”

  
  


“Heh... i guess that's what makes us similar besides being... OLD, huh? you can read right through me. tell me, what else have you found out?”

  
  


“That you're related to this person in some way I don't know, since I haven't pieced out everything yet.” said Shysta. “But you're definitely related somehow.”

  
  


“...” Sans just stayed quiet for a while. “i don't want to see him, but i feel like i must you know? with all this happening... i just didn't expect to hear his name now, of all times.”

  
  


“...”

  
  


***

  
  


“TEAM YOUNG HAS FOUND... NOTHING YET! YOU LUBBERS BETTER SHAPE UP OR I WON'T COOK YOU SPAGHETTI AFTER ALL THIS!”

  
  


“Wha- WE'RE NOT-” Madsta began to blush hard at this and didn't know what to say. “W-We're not... I mean... h-he...”

  
  


Napstablook didn't say anything but just looked around the place.

  
  


“.... OOOOOH, DID YOU MISHEAR THAT? I SAID 'LUBBERS'! WHAT DID YOU THINK I SAID?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Madsta was blushing MAD as he just covered his face in embarrassment. Napstablook didn't seem to react negatively towards this, but he didn't seem to react at all about it. He just sighed and looked around a little nervously, just wanting to see a trace of his cousin.

  
  


“not even the blook acres was as deserted as this... i wonder where pinky is...”

  
  


“HEY DON'T WORRY, DEEJ! WE'LL GET HIM SOON! I KINDA MISS HIM TOO... HE ALWAYS BRIGHTENED THE MOOD.” said Papyrus as he scratched the back of his head. “THE WAY HE JUST LAUGHED, AND SMILED, EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM WAS JUST SO GREAT HE INSPIRED ME TO DO THE SAME AND CHEER UP EVERYONE WHO NEEDS A SMILE!”

  
  


Papyrus leaned forward and grinned widely at the both of them to try and lighten up the atmosphere... sadly, it didn't help much for the two though they wanted to smile with him.

  
  


“I-I don't know about you, but I-I think I want to help Nap-Nap find his cousin and my cousins fast...” said Madsta as he started to walk away, flustered. He bumped onto... something.

  
  


Not something. SomeONE. The someone seemed to be a little child wearing a hood; the red robot, big as he was, sent the child half sprawled on the ground because of the impact.

  
  


“Oh my gosh, are you alright?!” Madsta looked rather concerned as he helped the child up.

  
  


The child nodded. They wore a hood that obstructed part of their face, but one could tell that they were human. Although partly obstructed by the hood, one can see their beautiful big eyes quite clearly. It looked almost captivating to stare at them, the way Madsta felt captivated everytime he looked into Napstablook's beautiful eyes...

  
  


“I'm fine, thank you.” said the child as they dusted themselves.

  
  


“WOW! THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN SOMEONE IN THIS DESERTED TOWN! ARE YOU LOST TOO?” Papyrus asked as he helped dust the child.

  
  


“Not really, I was just on the way home.” the child said as they looked around. “Although... I don't really want to go home. I want to go out more.”

  
  


“Well... you're outside.” Madsta shrugged.

  
  


Papyrus clapped his hands. “HEY, HEY! I'LL JUST GO GET TEAM OLDIES YOU TWO LUBBERS STAY HERE WITH THE KID!”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Madsta and Napstablook, both of which were completely awkward with each other, just decided to focus on the child who had mysteriously appeared to them. What they knew was that at least there was a sign of life in this forsaken, yet strangely tended, town.

  
  


“So you live here?” asked Madsta, trying to strike up a conversation to kill the silence that had started to creep up.

  
  


“Yeah.”

  
  


So much for a conversation, now Madsta doesn't know what to say.

  
  


“Ummm..... uh... what is your name?” asked Napstablook as he just crouched down to talk to the child.

  
  


“Terry.”

  
  


“Oh... nice name.”

  
  


“Thanks.”

  
  


Looks like the child was not much for a conversation. Nobody was happy with this. Now Madsta knew what Frisk felt as they tried to talk to him and his cousins before... it felt really awkward. The silence was prolonged til finally, Papyrus came back with Sans and Shysta. The older skeleton tried to make a conversation with the child as well, but it was always cut short for some reason... it looked like the child didn't really like talking at all.

  
  


“HEY, YOU SAID YOU WERE ON THE WAY HOME, RIGHT?” Papyrus perked up again. It looked like it caught Terry's attention. “WHY DON'T YOU SHOW US YOUR HOME? WE DON'T SEE OTHER PEOPLE AROUND... IT'S WEIRD. MAYBE WE CAN TALK TO YOUR PARENTS ABOUT IT!”

  
  


“... Alright then, follow me.” said Terry as they led the others to his home.

  
  


Shysta grabbed Sans by the shoulder as the others went ahead.

  
  


“Sans... do we really have to? I mean...”

  
  


“... even if this sounds suspicious, there's no other lead to go to. we just have to be ready.”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Shysta decided to comply and then he and Sans walked side by side as they watched Papyrus actually strike up a somewhat decent conversation with the child about flowers and spaghetti. Terry looked a little amused as they smiled up at Papyrus... until they finally stopped in front of a house.

  
  


“This is my home.” said Terry as they opened the door. Inside was a simple, quaint household with a tiny living room to the left. It had a small couch for receiving visitors, a centerpiece, and a few family photos resting on the side table drawer. A few photos were also hung on the walls, showing Terry's family full of humans; a mom, a dad, and a brother about their age.

  
  


On the right was a kitchen and dining room, where there was a round table for four and a kitchen counter. The furniture seemed to be entirely made out of wood; adding to its rustic beauty.

  
  


The visitors proceeded inside cautiously, not wanting to cause any ruckus to the receiving host.

  
  


“OH! WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?” asked Papyrus as he looked around the living room.

  
  


Terry invited them all to take their own seats in the living room. Seeing that not all of them can sit, Sans and Shysta offered the last seat to Terry and they just leaned against the walls for support.

  
  


“I guess my parents are still out. They'd freak out if they saw me bring in complete strangers.” Terry chuckled a little. “... So are you all monsters?”

  
  


“what gave you that idea?” asked Sans. “was it the blue hoodie?”

  
  


“How did you come out of the barrier we put between our worlds?” asked Terry, choosing not to mind Sans' remark. “I thought monsters couldn't get out, even if they wanted to.”

  
  


“You haven't heard?” Shysta raised a brow at this, not knowing what else to say. “The last time I checked, we were...”

  
  


Shysta froze when he turned his head to a direction.

  
  


Madsta found this weird, but he knew how strange his cousin could get so he didn't pay much attention to this. It somewhat bothered him, though. He just sighed and took a glance at Napstablook who sat beside him...

  
  


… the blue robot seemed a little bothered at the time when the red robot looked at him. He just decided to focus on the child before them.

  
  


“Yeah, monsters already came out of that mountain in the horizon. I'm surprised you haven't heard given you live near that mountain.” said Madsta as he tried to strike another conversation.

  
  


The child hadn't replied for a bit as they were just staring outside the window from where they sat, looking at Mt. Ebott in the horizon against the setting sun.

  
  


Shysta excused himself for a moment to come outside of the house and get some fresh air; however, Sans noticed this and followed him. He knew something was up; as a fellow older family member, he could read through movements well like the robot did.

  
  


“shysta, what's up?” asked Sans as he walked with him outside.

  
  


“Sans, we need to get out of here. Get the others and go.” Shysta said, visibly shaken up. He gritted his teeth and looked back at the house. “Sans... I... I saw a calendar.”

  
  


“yeah?”

  
  


“... It was dated 201x. And it looked brand new.”

  
  


Sans froze in his place, trying to process what the robot had just told him. The calendar was brand new... no, it can't be.

  
  


It was all very clear for them that this was a place they shouldn't be in, or that they should immediately LEAVE before anything happens...

  
  


That was when they heard a shrill scream from the inside, that alerted the two and caused them to dash back in. The inside was frantic... they saw both Madsta and Papyrus stand on their guard while looking at where the child was...

  
  


The child was grinning at them as they harshly grasped Napstablook by his hair, as they held a knife with their other hand. The poor blue robot was forced to limp on the floor as the child held them roughly. They chuckled darkly as they looked at the frantic visitors.

  
  


“H-HEY, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS???? C-CAN'T WE JUST LET THE ROBOT GO AND LET'S JUST ALL BE FRIENDS AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER?” Papyrus tried to convince the child, but it was futile.

  
  


“LET NAP-NAP GO!!” Madsta started to grow angry, but scared. He didn't know what the child could do to the Blook...

  
  


Shysta growled at this and then he just scanned the place to inspect what they could do...

  
  


The child cackled. “Don't you get it? This place isn't real. Not anymore, to any of us.”

  
  


The place started to fall apart into a dark, unfathomable abyss-like setting, although they weren't falling. It felt like a living nightmare, seeing such a dainty village turn into something surreal.

  
  


“I erased it from my reality, therefore it doesn't exist anymore.”

  
  


Darkness swept them, but they could still somewhat feel each other and so they all huddled up to feel safer. It felt like the earth was trembling.

  
  


“I 'killed' all these people? I simply erased them from existence.”

  
  


It felt like everything shifted all at once; nobody knew what was happening anymore. Napstablook was crying and trying to reach out for the others... only Madsta was able to try and reach out to him too, but was unable to do anything about it.

  
  


“And to be quite honest, I just wanted to lure you all in here. Since you have your 'leads' and all that.”

  
  


It felt like time itself stopped. There was darkness all around them. They didn't know if they could still feel anything, but they knew they were still... there. Everything was quiet... everything was eerily silent.

  
  


What was this? Did they still exist? Was this all an illusion?

  
  


What is reality?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter reminds me of the days I wrote some messed up stuff and it felt GREAT! Here's where the story should start getting more interesting since names have been dropped~ stay tuned!
> 
> Trivia:
> 
> This and the whole of my fic was actually erased; thankfully I have a backup online so I can save all of it. This had to be rewritten since I wasn't able to upload this chapter before my ACID tears fic file was corrupted.
> 
> My TLoZ fic Memories and Moments had the same incident back then and I had to rewrite a whole chapter and a half... and honestly, it took a turn for the better like this did. One of the deleted scenes I wasn't able to get through here though, was that Shysta actually detached himself from his body for a while during their bumpy ride.


	17. Fury... Sorrow... Truth

###  **Chapter 17: Fury... Sorrow... Truth**

  
  


I'm not sure where it all began, but... I don't like hurting people, I really don't. But I've started not giving any care in the world about it.

  
  


After all, nobody cared about what I felt, right? Why should I care about what others felt? All I know is I want to get what I want, no matter what.

  
  


… And yet, I feel bad for taking advantage of others. I feel bad for hurting others. I feel bad... when I hurt someone I actually cherish. How could I bring myself to hurt them, I ask myself everyday. How could I bring myself to give them grief, and how could I bring myself to not be able to help when they need a shoulder to lean on...

  
  


Anger had always been my defense mechanism, and yet I myself, don't understand it fully. It just feels wonderful and awful getting all these negative emotions out someway.

  
  


But still... I can't live with this. I need to fulfill my purpose... and my purpose is to protect the people I love with all my life. This is why I asked to be given a body better than my previous one.

  
  


***

  
  


“...”

  
  


Madsta's systems started to boot up once more as his vision recalibrated to his new surroundings. He woke up to a view of a ceiling that resembled an office's modern cemented ceiling with circular lights built in them. He groaned, as he tried to get up.

  
  


He couldn't. Not easily, anyway. He saw that someone was lying down on his chest that prevented him from moving freely.

  
  


“N-Nap-Nap!” he said as he finally recognised the fellow. “Nap-Nap, Nap-Nap! Wake up!”

  
  


He tried to shake his companion awake, half-relieved that he was not alone, and yet half-nervous that his companion may not wake up at all... he remembered the prior events crisply as he shook Napstablook... it wasn't pretty. He was hoping that he was still alright...

  
  


He decided to put him down on the ground gently to inspect on him. He carefully lifted up his sweater so he can take a closer look on his heart tank. He seemed a little uncomfortable doing so, however. It felt almost like he was ashamed of himself doing this, but he had to so he can see if there was something wrong...

  
  


His heart seemed to be normal, and his heart tank seemed unscathed. He sighed in relief at this and then he looked up to see Napstablook's angelic face.

  
  


He saw the robot staring down at him and then he got a slap to his face before the blue robot got up to sit on the ground.

  
  


“W-What were you doing?!” Napstablook looked a little shocked as he pulled down his sweater.

  
  


“I... I was just checking on your heart tank!!” Madsta said defensively as he held the cheek that was slapped. It wasn't too painful, but it was surprising. “I didn't know if you were still alive! That kid looked like they were about to kill you... I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable again, Nap-Nap...”

  
  


“...” Napstablook just stared at him and then looked down at the ground. “I'm sorry... I-I didn't know... it was just too surprising...”

  
  


“... No, I can't blame you. That was too touchy, even for me.” Madsta chuckled nervously and then he got up to his feet. He held out a hand for Napstablook to help him up and then they started to look around to familiarize themselves with their environment.

  
  


They appeared to be in some sort of a small, modern room, full of glossy tiles and opaque glass walls. There was a door in front of them; it looked like it resembled Alphys' automatic doors, although this looked a little sleeker in design. They looked up... they were well-lit by the tiny ceiling lights that shone brightly.

  
  


The bright lights don't really help ease the feeling of dread, though. The place was eerily quiet, and about the only thing that they could hear is the faint buzz of the air conditioner.

  
  


“Nap-Nap... are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?” Madsta asked him before doing anything.

  
  


“I'm okay... thanks. A-Are you...?”

  
  


“Yeah... well, now that we're sure we're okay, we have to get going. Something tells me we have to go through that door over there...” Madsta nodded and then he turned to look at his friend again. “Let's go, Naps... we can't sit around here doing nothing. They're probably out there... I can't see Shy OR the brothers anywhere.”

  
  


“You're right... l-let's go find them...” Napstablook nodded as well and looked determined.

  
  


The two both gulped and then stared at the door, then they cautiously approached it so that they can make progress. No use standing around in this unusual room, they thought. Madsta held Napstablook's hand, even though it was obscured by his droopy-sleeved sweaters, just so he was sure they were walking out together in this unfamiliar place. Perhaps it would put them both at ease, he thought... and for once, Napstablook did feel at ease that someone was holding his hand to guide him out of their captivity.  
  
  
  


  


 

When they went outside, they saw that the path led forked in the middle, so that they saw two different other ways to go. They didn't know what to do. Madsta let Napstablook stay where he stood for a while, so he can quickly inspect one before proceeding, just to make sure that everything was safe.

  
  


That was when something from up the ceiling rumbled, and then a wall shot down from between the two robots, partitioning them from two sides. They both panicked; Madsta pounded on the wall, but it was no use... it was strange; the wall looked... organic. Almost as if it was made out of non-animal tissue? He yelled; he could still hear Napstablook from the other side, whining and crying for Madsta.

  
  


“Madsta!! Madsta!!” he could only cry out his name in fear and panic; not knowing what to feel about this. He tried to hit the tissue as well, but did not know what to do about it.

  
  


Madsta was so angry, he tried to burn the tissue with one of his weapons; a fire burner. He had a variety of weapons he took with him, some of them being knives, a rapier, a gun, and even a fire burner. There was nothing he can use that cleared out the tissue.

  
  


“You IDIOTS.”

  
  


They heard an unfamiliar voice that made the both of them stop and look at the ceiling.

  
  


“The only reason you're alive now is because I'm getting amused by all this. Two lovers, separated by a wall?! HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAAAAAHAHAHA! Okay, this is getting old. If you're not gonna make progress, I'll FORCE you to make progress.”

  
  


That was when they both felt shocked just by touching the wall between them, and then something from Napstablook's side rumbled again... this time, it wasn't a wall. Something dropped... it looked like some sort of a... what WAS it??

  
  


_'I-It... it looks like what happened to Shyren's sister...'_ thought Napstablook to himself. He backed away as the thing, the amalgamation, approached started to approach him. “D-Don't come any closer...”

  
  


He could hear voices come from it; almost... sinister. As if screaming out all his insecurities... that he was inadequate, he couldn't save himself, he was a horrible friend and cousin... all the negative things about him, whether or not they were true, were getting to his head. He couldn't afford to listen more to it and then he just covered his ears and ran away as he screamed.

  
  


“NAPS!!” screamed Madsta and then he started to run in his own path as well, but of course, it wasn't without a challenge. Many obstacles made of the similar tissue shot out from all directions as he ran; he couldn't afford to make any mistakes or he'd get caught. He followed Napstablook's voice; maybe this path led to somewhere common so they'd meet. As soon as he sees him, he'll grab him and hold him close, so that they won't get separated again, he thought.

  
  


As he ran, he started to have so many self-doubts. He didn't know why, but he started to feel... like he was never enough. That no matter what he did, nobody will ever love him. That no matter what he felt doesn't matter, and that all his friends and beloved family members... they all kept him out of pity, even Shysta. Where were all these thoughts coming from?! He couldn't stop feeling so horrible for himself... he felt... so inadequate...

  
  


He got so distracted with his thoughts that he felt something grab his arm as he ran and it held him back.

  
  


“W-WHAT?! Let me go!!” Madsta struggled, but another plant tissue shot out from somewhere and held his arms. He was forced to kneel down as both plant tissues were wrapped around his arms like strong vines that not even someone as strong as he was could break free of it. No, not in this state.

  
  


“You idiot. Can you see it now? How insignificant you are? How stupid your quest is? What does it mean to you to rescue your family who never loved you? What does it mean to rescue Mettaton? Do you just want to show this all off to Napstablook?! HAHAHA?! NAPSTABLOOK?! You have got to be kidding me?? THAT IDIOT HAS NO FEELINGS, he will never return your dumb feelings to you?! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE THE SECOND ALPHYS?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

  
  


“...” Madsta started to feel even more atrocious. The laugh rang in his ears repeatedly, as if it exists only to torment him...

  
  


Napstablook... where was he? And is he safe? What was that thing he heard that had just dropped and then caused him to run away screaming? He could no longer hear him...

  
  


Oh no... was he dead? If he didn't leave Napstablook to inspect the other path, they would have still been together... oh no...

  
  


***

  
  


I don't know why I chose this path... I don't know why I chose everything I've done in my life so far.

  
  


I know I've always been so passive... I've always let my cousin decide what's best for me; I've always been so dependent. Even my career right now...? Dependent. My cousin gave me my job... I owe everything to him... and now that he's gone from my side, I don't know what to do.

  
  


Do I want him back because I love him as my cousin, or merely because I want a voice of reason to guide me all throughout my life? Do I want him back because I want him back, or is it because of my own selfish desires?

  
  


… I once heard that all beings are selfish. That we only do good deeds in our lives so that we can satisfy ourselves. That beggar you helped the other day? You only helped him out just so that you can satisfy yourself so you can no longer feel horrible about not helping him. The feeling of love... is it like that? Do you only love someone to fulfill your insatiable desires of being alone?

  
  


… No, love and compassion has more to that. It has something else that no being, human or monster, can understand. But...

  
  


No... I must shake off these feelings... I must...

  
  


I have to do this... for everyone... for Pinky... for my family... for my friends... who have always been there for me. Now is my time to do something for them in return...

  
  


***

  
  


“...”

  
  


When he awoke to, he saw that the amalgamation had grew and it was now pinning him down to the ground. He struggled and moved his arms around, but didn't know what to do. It was futile. The being kept on feeding him negative thoughts, but he felt stronger.

  
  


“That is not true! Pinky loves me, and I love him back! We are cousins, and that will never change!” he cried out as he tried to look into the amalgamate straight into its soul, wherever it is, if it did have a soul.

  
  


It kept on feeding him horrible thoughts, but he tried to counter it with positive thoughts to keep his sanity. It was an extremely difficult mental battle, but with each positive thought, he could feel the negativity dying out a little although not completely. Just enough to feel the grip of the amalgamate weaken a little so he could slip out, given his tiny structure.

  
  


He managed to slip away and then he continued to run.

  
  


“MADSTA!!” he called out as he ran away from the thing as he had a headstart before it started to chase him again.

  
  


He found another wall made out of tissue by his side and then he tried to hit it; maybe if he hit it hard enough, he can go to another path... and maybe he can be with Madsta again. He worried if his friend was still alive... he could no longer hear him from the other path when he put his ear next to the wall. Oh no... was he too late?

  
  


“MADSTA!!” he screamed and then he saw the thing try to latch itself onto him again, but this time he tried to evade better. He tried holding it off with his shield; the one that he had used to protect Mettaton with. He thanked Alphys for improving it before going on this mission, else something else may have happened. But the shield would not hold it back any longer... he needed to find a way to get to Madsta!

  
  


***

  
  


Madsta was already tangled in vines... the vines that once only held his arms were now starting to crawl all over his body. What now? Was this the end for him? He was worthless, like the strange voice had been telling him. An utterly useless, insignificant fool, too caught up with his own fantasies of being somebody in someone's life, of being somebody for his own selfish desires...

  
  


“MADSTA!!”

  
  


Madsta raised his head as he heard the voice from the other side. It was another voice... besides this mocking voice that had been tormenting him for all his flaws.

  
  


It was Napstablook's voice.

  
  


It was the voice that kept him going, even after getting separated from his cousins. The voice that helped him grow... the voice that never gave up on him, no matter what he did. That was Napstablook.

  
  


Napstablook never gave up on him... so can he give up on himself?

  
  


Never. He had to fight back.

  
  


Fight back how? No matter the cost. No matter the temper. No matter the language.

  
  


“YEAH?! YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME?!” Madsta shouted back at the foreign voice that did nothing but feed him with negative thoughts. “WELL FUCK YOU TOO, YOU MOTHERFUCKING-”

  
  


Madsta cussed to his heart's content, making the voice actually stop to listen to him. It was as if the voice stopped in shock. The vines were still holding tightly onto him, but it started to slowly recede. He felt the vines move, and so he decided to cuss even louder and even more colourful! He had to get these vines off, somehow!

  
  


That was when the vines retracted as quickly as possible and then he heard a scream that made the place rumble. The lights were short-circuiting... thankfully he had his night vision just in case, and so he started to run. He could still hear Napstablook's voice calling out his name.

  
  


He ran around the place... now that he had a better grasp of himself, this place was like a maze! He didn't know what he was doing; he was blindly running into it, just hoping to finally find his companion and be together again in such a strange, unwelcoming place.

  
  


“NAPSTA!! NAPSTA, KEEP CALLING OUT MY NAME! I'LL FIND YOU!!”

  
  


“MADSTA!!”

  
  


Their GPS were both disabled... he could not try to send him signals, and so their best bet were their voices. They tried to resonate their voices... until Madsta saw another wall that looked like the thing that separated the both of them. It was moving...

  
  


… He concluded that it was a part of that voice again and so he smirked a little before he cussed at the top of his lungs at it. He cussed so much that it would have made a sailor ashamed of himself.

  
  


Sure enough, the wall retracted a little, allowing him to slip through. That was when he saw the amalgamate trying to latch itself onto the tiny blue robot... that was when he tried to get it off his shield, but he couldn't...

  
  


“Madsta... we have to refuse it! Do your best to refuse the negative thoughts! Quick! I think it needs both of us to succeed...”

  
  


This indeed looked like it was an amalgamate of an amalgamate... it sure looked strong. Very well now, it needs to be refused so it would leave them alone.

  
  


“Naps, think of happy thoughts. I'll help you.”

  
  


Madsta tried to make funny faces from behind the thing and then he danced around like a monkey just to help the blue robot feel better.

  
  


“I'M A DUMMY BOT!”

  
  


Napstablook looked past the thing and then he started to focus on his friend more. Amidst what they were going through now... he was still up to do this for him...? He started to stifle his giggles, but he couldn't help it. He laughed at it and became more absorbed by his friend rather than this thing that wanted to grab him.

  
  


The thing looked like it started to weaken, but not without a fight. It dissolved, but it seemed to have dissipated into strange faces that tried to attack them out of nowhere. When Madsta saw this, he panicked, but Napsta was there to run to him and shield the both of them from danger. He kept the shield until the faces were gone and the places stopped rumbling...

  
  


…

  
  


He disabled his holographic shield and then looked around, then looked up at his companion. “Maddie... are you okay?”

  
  


“Y-Yeah... all thanks to you.”

  
  


“...”

  
  


They both smiled at each other with blushes on their cheeks, relieved to see that the other was safe and sound. Relieved to just be with each other again, no matter what had just happened. Madsta looked around and grabbed his hand...

  
  


“Come on, there's no time to lose.” he said and then he ran to another path that had just opened. A cement wall had retracted; it was once a dead end that didn't allow Napstablook to continue with his path, but it was now open for the both of them. The light at the end of it was blinding...

  
  


This was hoping that they'd be alleviated of this emotionally-draining puzzle soon...

  
  


When they went through the path, they saw that contrary to what they had seen... it wasn't blinding light at all. It was just a plain white room... or was it a room at all? They could definitely feel the borders of a room within the place, but they could see no walls or ceilings. However, they did feel claustrophobic. They tried to go back to the path they were had trod on, but they could no longer find the exit.

  
  


Napstablook started to panic. He was horribly claustrophobic... he started to cry and hit on the invisible walls that held them captive.

  
  


The red robot tried to calm him down, even if he himself was panicking.

  
  


Thankfully though, the air didn't seem to close in on them. They could breathe perfectly well... for now, besides getting enclosed in a tiny space as this. Napstablook could only cry and the negative feelings started to rise from his morbid fear of closed spaces.

  
  


“Calm down, Naps! We'll get out of here... I-I'll look for a way!”

  
  


“I CAN'T! I CAN'T... MADS... I CAN'T I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!”

  
  


Napstablook cried as he started to hit on the robot who had tried to hold him. Madsta received a few hits from the panicking blue robot, but he didn't mind. This time, he was insistent on holding him in his arms to try and calm him down... it started to work; it calmed down his movements, but not his crying.

  
  


“Maddie, I don't like this... are we going to die...? I-I mean... we're corporeal now, we could die, a-and...”

  
  


“We're not going to die, okay Naps? We're getting out of here, no matter what.”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Time had passed... it felt like minutes, hours... how long had they been there, just sitting around for hope that they will be free? Nothing was happening at all... this was when Napstablook started to feel panic arising in his heart core again, but he tried not to let it show too much. He started to cry again, though... quietly, then turning into louder sobs.

  
  


“Napsta...” said Madsta as he looked at the little robot beside him. He held his hands and looked into his eyes. “I'm... not going to lie... I'm not sure what will happen to us from this moment on. I'm so angry with myself for allowing this to happen...”

  
  


“Mads...” Napstablook cried and then he just looked back at him with his tearful eyes. “D-Don't blame yourself... it wasn't your fault... you didn't want this to happen and neither of us knew what was happening. We just tried our best to survive...”

  
  


“Napsta... w-well, we don't know if we will survive so... uh... m-might as well.......”

  
  


Madsta gulped and then he just seemed to be in a trance staring into his eyes. He slowly started to close in on Napstablook's cute little face as he started to slowly close his eyes... seeing nothing but Napsta in both his vision and mind...

  
  


Instead of what he was expecting, he felt a hard slap on his face.

  
  


“... Madsta... Madsta Spook, what are you doing?”

  
  


Napsta looked up at him, backing away a little from him. He looked like he was afraid of him... the red robot started to be a little more insistent, as if something in his inner mind was telling him to be more assertive.

  
  


“Naps... isn't it obvious? I-I... I like you... I really like you! Please... please accept my feelings...”

  
  


“Madsta... I-I don't...... I don't know, I...”

  
  


Madsta started to creep closer to him, despite the blue robot backing away from him. He felt the fear of the blue robot, and so he decided to think of something so that he wouldn't be afraid. After all, he had heard that the tiny Blook never had a date all his life, no matter how unbelievable it was. Mettaton had been so protective of him, especially after him getting a robot body and having all sorts of fans...

  
  


“Naps... please...”

  
  


He held the Blook's hands again, but the little bot whimpered, withdrew his hands and then slapped him.

  
  


“What do you think you're doing?!”

  
  


“I became corporeal to be loved!” Madsta didn't know what he was saying. “I did this to save my cousin... and to impress you! I-I didn't really want to force you to like me back, I... b-but I... I want you to at least acknowledge my feelings for you!”

  
  


“I am! But you're forcing them on me now! Madsta!”

  
  


The red robot pinned him to the wall; he was losing control of himself. He didn't know how much longer this will continue, but he did know that he didn't want to do this. The blue robot cried and then slapped him and pushed him roughly, just to get the aggressive robot away.

  
  


“N-Naps...”

  
  


That was when Madsta started to feel himself again; he held the cheek that was slapped... it hurt. It really hurt this time, and Napsta looked so horrified of him.

  
  


“I DIDN'T WANT TO BE CORPOREAL!” Napstablook sobbed hard as he looked at the red robot. “I *NEVER* WANTED TO! I JUST ASKED FOR THIS BODY SO I CAN BE WITH PINKY... w-why doesn't anybody understand that...? I-I guess it's because I've done a horrible job at keeping him safe, even with this body...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Madsta couldn't understand what he felt, but he was sure that most of it was immense guilt from trying to force his feelings on the blue robot.

  
  


“AND I DON'T LIKE YOU THAT WAY, MADSTA! I don't... I-I don't see you as anything more than a friend! S-So please, leave me alone!”

  
  


Napstablook sobbed hard as he hugged himself and then he hugged his knees as close as he could and cried on them. That was too painful, even for him... he himself, didn't know what to feel about this. He turned away from the red robot just kneeling in front of him and covered his face.

  
  


The red robot... didn't know what to do. He screwed up, big time. He just sat on the space across the blue robot and decided to contemplate on what he had just done. He tried to open his feelings to this one person he actually liked... and he blew it, by forcing these same emotions. What had gotten into him, he wondered, that pushed him to do that? He was sure it was by his own will this time... perhaps it was the feeling that he will never get out of this place alive, and that he wanted to make sure that he confessed before anything happened...

  
  


He was desperate.

  
  


And because of that desperation, he may have forever damaged their relationship.

  
  


He mentally punched himself hard for doing that to Napstablook and cried to himself as well as he buried his face in one of his hands...

  
  


What a way to die, he thought. What a way to die...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Hey darlings feel free to hate me because I hate myself writing this chapter too
> 
> ***
> 
> Again, thanks for the kudos/views/comments, guys! They're very much appreciated ♥ stay tuned for more ACID tears!


	18. Reason

###  **Chapter 18: Reason**

  
  


Nobody knows what reality is. Nobody knows what our purpose for living is for. Even though we think we know the answer, not one being can contain the infinite wonders and wisdom of something so grand in a mortal's finite mind.

  
  


Why do humans exist?

  
  


Why do monsters exist?

  
  


Why were we forced to co-exist with one another, given our seemingly inherent dislike for one another? Why do humans love to create wars with different species, including themselves? Why do monsters put so much importance in face value rather than something's essence? Why must be there different species, in the first place?

  
  


How do I know all these exist, and I am not merely a conscious mind, toyed around by some greater entities out there, watching my “realities” from a screen they are using for experimentation?

  
  


… Why do feelings exist? Aren't they just a hindrance for someone to progress? These feelings... of hatred. These feelings of happiness... these feelings... of love. Why do they all exist? I don't think emotions have ever benefited me in any way.

  
  


All I know is...

  
  


I think, therefore, I am.

  
  


***

  
  


“...”

  
  


Shysta groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was still blurry, as his eyes still tried to calibrate to his surroundings. He was lying down on the cold hard tiles of some dark room he's never seen; he was a robot, but he had sensors and so he felt that the room was chilly. It felt a little intimidating, to say the least, given he has no idea where he is or what's going on.

  
  


The last vision he saw was his cousin trying to reach out to Napstablook.

  
  


“... Madsta.” he remembered. “Madsta? MADSTA!”

  
  


He tried to call out to his cousin, but his voice only echoed back to him. It felt a little like it was mocking him... he concluded that he was alone, and he got up to his feet to try and inspect his surroundings. As soon as he saw that his vision was recalibrated accordingly, he turned his night vision on so that he can examine his strange environment more conveniently.

  
  


“Madsta... Napstablook... Sans, Papyrus... where are you?”

  
  


He saw that the room he was in seemed small, as if it was just enough to contain him. It was some sort of a claustrophobic nightmare; the walls seemed to close in on him, and there were no windows or doors. There appeared to be no exit for him. Seeing this almost gave him a panic attack, but he tried to remain calm. He tried to look for any exit. Any exit at all...

  
  


… it doesn't seem like he could find anything.

  
  


“...” he began to feel a panic rising to his heart core. He felt his heart core shake a little in his tank. “There must be an exit if something enclosed me here... there must be one...”

  
  


He started to think of his cousin more; perhaps thinking about his cousin would help him stay calm, given he was one of the reasons he keeps on living. If he was trapped in here, then there must have been an opening somewhere that he could try to work on.

  
  


…

  
  


Still nothing. He decided to just sit down and tried to calm himself down for a while, given he was still in a panic. He tried to think of something else... something like...

  
  


… Mettaton.

  
  


Why did he do this, he thought. Why would he hurt his own cousin? And why would he help kidnap those ghosts? He wished that he had met the robot now that he has a robot body of his own and perhaps try and dig some answers from there on.

  
  


He laid down on the ground and thought that it was pointless to move for now, and he must conserve his energy. Maybe if he rested enough, he'd think of a way out of this...

  
  


When he was about to go on sleep mode, the black space he was confined to suddenly became intensely bright that he was forced to cover his face and groan. His vision wasn't able to refocus that it hurt his mechanical eyes. He sat upright and peeked from his hands as soon as his eyes were able to focus well.

  
  


“Wha... where am I?” he asked out loud as he looked around.

  
  


It seems that he was actually confined in some sort of a giant glass box, and the only reason he wasn't able to see anything earlier was that it projected “black images” to project they were opaque walls as the glass seemed to be full of magic. He figured it out since he saw some black wisps on the glass fading away. He looked around and saw that the glass was no longer projecting images like it did before.

  
  


The place was familiar. He was inside the same old laboratory that he and his cousins were held captive in... or at least, it looked like it. From captivity and from his experience getting transferred from one lab to another, they looked very similar. There were only a few minor differences which weren't very noticeable, especially to someone in such a tense situation.

  
  


“You weren't fun at all, darling.”

  
  


He heard a voice that made him stand upright. That voice...

  
  


That was when someone strutted just in front of him, behind the glass wall. The person in question was very familiar... Shysta grunted a little when he saw him. He immediately rushed in front of him and leaned his arms against the glass wall.

  
  


“Why didn't you try to escape? That wasn't fun at all, darling. I was expecting you to panic and thrash about the little space you're confined in there, not just accept your fate and sleep? Sigh...”

  
  


“Fr- Mettaton.” said Shysta as he just looked at him.

  
  


“The one and only, darling.”

  
  


That was when something from underneath Shysta began to rumble... it was actually some metallic tendrils shot up from the ground and held both his wrists in place to his sides. Some tendrils wrapped around his legs and waist too, just to make sure he was immobile.

  
  


“!!!”

  
  


The glass box started to open up and retract down the slits in the floor, allowing him to be free... if he wasn't held immobile. Mettaton was free to strut over to him and examine him.

  
  


“Not a bad face.” said Mettaton as he held Shysta by the chin and dragged his face down to take a closer look at him, given the latter was taller even when he was wearing his heels.

  
  


“Of course. My craftsman is the best.” said Shysta with a slight smirk, though he felt uneasy.

  
  


The pink robot was now painted dark pink... almost black. Shysta squinted his eyes at this, wondering why he had to be repainted as such. The pink robot caressed his face and took pleasure examining the details of his robotics, while he examined him back as he did so.

  
  


“And to think you were just a tiny ghost when you managed to slip away from my grip. I'm honestly a little glad I let you go. Now you're back and better than ever~” said Mettaton and then he started to play a little with Shysta's long, luscious hair.

  
  


“Jealous? You should have asked Alphys to have given you long hair, if you even remember her.”

  
  


“Of course I remember her! She gave me this body... but you know, it wasn't enough. They improved this body for me.”

  
  


“'They'?”

  
  


“Shhhh... it's a secret.” Mettaton neared the captive robot's face, teasing him a little. “Why should I tell you?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


The black-haired robot let go of the silver-haired robot's face and then looked at him again as he crossed his arms. “Now, I was instructed to take a good look at your structure... and maybe, just maybe... if we see that you're good enough, you can be on our side.”

  
  


“What?”

  
  


“You heard me.”

  
  


“... Enough of this. Mettaton, why are you doing this?! Why did you hurt your own cousin? Why are you helping them kidnap our own kind?!” Shysta struggled in the metallic tendrils' grip, but to no avail. “Who ARE you?!”

  
  


“I am Mettaton, star of the underground AND humanity. And you? You're nothing. You're just another ghost with a pretty face. Don't you see? The reason we're doing this is so that everything will be back to the way it was... everyone will be happy. Don't you want everyone to be happy? Don't you want your cousin Madsta to be happy?”

  
  


“Madsta... where is he?”

  
  


“Oh, I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. The only one I'm in charge of is you.”

  
  


Shysta kept on struggling where he was held, but Mettaton only chuckled at this. He placed his hands around Shysta's hips and looked up at him with a sinister smirk. “You're so cute when you struggle, you know. The way you want so much to break free... it's so amusing.”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Shysta decided to stop and just look down at Mettaton. He was unbelievably touchy, it was making him feel a little uncomfortable, given that the robot in front of him felt so... corrupted. He knew that this wasn't him at all... and that something was up and he had to find a way out of it, somehow. But first, he had to get out of his restraints.

  
  


“I'm not going to break free. I want you to get me free.” Shysta sternly looked into his eyes. “Why? Because I want you to have one last dance with me. Whoever wins gets a chance to do whatever they want. Whoever loses must comply to the winner.”

  
  


“Sounds lovely. If I win, I get to take you for analyzation... wouldn't it be great to work side by side? Ufufufu~” the pink robot went a little ways away.

  
  


A panel started to float from beneath his feet and it slowly levitated to transport him to a control panel situated on the lab's mezzanine. He fiddled a little with it and a few moments later, Shysta was free of his restraints.

  
  


“Now then, darling...” Mettaton looked down at him from the mezzanine before he stepped back on the floating panel. “Perhaps this is the best time to start our duel. If I win, you'll do everything I tell you to.”

  
  


“And if I win, you're coming with me.” Shysta said as he stood on guard as he looked up at him. “Bring it on, Mettaton. Bring it on.”

  
  


The robot with the midnight black hair had some sort of jets that branched out of his shoulders that helped him jump off safely from the platform he was standing on. He landed just in front of the green robot and then the shoulder jets retracted. The taller robot, not wanting to make the first move, just stood guard... the pink robot noticed this and then he started the duel himself.

  
  


Mettaton started the fight by doing one roundhouse kick after the other, hoping to catch him off guard. Shysta was quick however, and so he was able to dodge most of them. When Mettaton tried to do a combination of butterfly kicks to distract him and flying kicks for offensive attacks, Shysta managed to block most of them, though he was able to land some on his torso.

  
  


The green robot grunted... Mettaton did a number on his heart tank. He was relieved it didn't crack, but it did hurt...

  
  


“Aren't you going to give up yet, darling? Do so before I decide to break that heart tank of yours.”

  
  


Shysta groaned and thought to himself that he wouldn't get anywhere just blocking and evading, no matter how much he didn't want to hurt the other... and so he grabbed the handle protruding from his abdomen. It was actually a handle for his most prominent weapon; he pulled out a whip and then he lashed it at the floor.

  
  


“Ooh~ a whip. Take it easy on me~” giggled the shorter robot as he seemed to have summoned miniature versions of his box form self that gave explosive flying kisses.

  
  


The taller robot was thankfully able to hit the miniatures and the flying kisses with his whip before it hit him, and so for the most part he was unscathed. He ran around, trying to get an opening to land a strike on his opponent... but so did his opponent run around as well, trying to get some bombs land on him.

  
  


“Lights! Camera! BOMBS!” the idol giggled evilly as he threw bombs at his opponent.

  
  


The long-haired robot was caught by surprise, and so some bombs actually did some damage to him. He tried to stay on his feet despite the pain though, and just studied his opponent for the time being. Maybe trying to talk to him would work?

  
  


“Mettaton, don't you remember anything?!” he yelled as he still tried to look for an opening.

  
  


Mettaton didn't seem to pay much attention to this and then he just held his arm out. The metal in his right forearm started to turn in to form into a mini cannon and it started to charge up. This wasn't good news at all, and Shysta knew that. He quickly went behind a closet when the pink robot's cannon was charged up. It looks like this cannon wasn't just for show, as it left a hole on the wall just beside where he hid.

  
  


“Daaaaarling, don't you want to check out my beautiful cannon? It's to die for~”

  
  


Shysta took a deep breath and then leapt out of his hiding spot to lash on his right arm at full force. Mettaton was taken by surprise... his right arm came off at the strong impact and then he just knelt down for a while in pain.

  
  


“I don't want to hurt you. You can always just surrender, you know.” said Shysta as he just stood a little ways away from the aching idol.

  
  


“L-Lucky... bastard...” Mettaton clutched the wires where his right arm used to be. “You just caught me off-guard. Next time won't be so easy.”

  
  


Shysta frowned and seemed to just await his next move, but that was when he felt that they weren't alone at all in the room. His eyes turned to the automatic door a little ways away from them, as he warily expected something to come out. From his peripheral vision, he saw the other robot seemed to turn pale, as the oil never stopped leaking from his detached arm.

  
  


“Ah...” Mettaton groaned weakly and then he collapsed to the floor. “What...”

  
  


Shysta looked almost horrified when he saw this and then he rushed to his side and knelt down to support him. The pink robot tried to fight back, but he was too weak because of oil loss. He inspected the damage... it seems he had been redesigned so that the oil flows through his body like a human's... it wasn't at all a good design for a fighting robot; Alphys' design was more convenient.

  
  


“...” Mettaton just looked up at him, hostile. But... his eyes seemed to soften...? “Hah....”

  
  


“Don't die on me now. I'll... I'll fix you up. Do you know where your tools are?” Shysta tried to keep himself calm under pressure, and he was pretty good at it.

  
  


“No... don't... I...”

  
  


They just stared into each other's eyes as the other robot seemed to be losing power fast. It wasn't clear what was going to happen to him, given that he had been redesigned... if he had kept his old design, he would definitely live but he would need to rest to be repaired. Not knowing what would happen, Shysta let out a sigh and then he looked down into his eyes gently as the other tried to speak.

  
  


“I... I want to tell you something...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


That was when they heard the automatic doors open from somewhere a few feet away from them, and both of them turned their heads to it.

  
  


“✡⚐✝ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's kinda short compared to my average chapters; probably the following ones will be a little longer and better!  
> And yes... I'm heavily implying something about these guys. You could see them from my other accounts if you've seen my doodles... ♥
> 
> *The doctor comes to play.


	19. Memories?

###  **Chapter 19: Memories?**

  


_“isn't it beautiful?”_

  


_A young boy's voice can be heard._

  


“ _Those aren't even real stars!”_

  


_Answered another voice; this time, it was a young girl's._

  


“ _yeah, i know. but they'd do... right? i always wanted to have a telescope business to just... watch them, you know?”_

  


_Two young monsters can be seen looking up at the cave walls full of gems that they called “stars”. This was all before the monsters were set free in the future and were still detained underground... both of them walked through the cold cave walls with the quiet water and luminous cyan flowers surrounding them._

  


“ _say... do you think we'd be friends forever?”_

  


“ _Wha? Why'd you ask that all of a sudden? You're so silly!”_

  


“ _well... you know, i just wanted to ask!”_

  


“ _Of course, silly! Why wouldn't we be?”_

  


_The young boy monster jumped up and down for some reason... the girl simply looked at him with a weird stare. Later on, he jumped over the water and offered the girl to do the same. The girl seemed very reluctant._

  


“ _I can't jump that far!!”_

  


“ _come on! urghhh fine, i'll go ask one of our pets to help you!”_

  


_The little boy snapped his fingers and out of nowhere, a levitating skull of what seems to be animalistic in structure picked up the little girl and then morphed to the other side for her to be with her friend. She didn't seem to panic much at this, but she was surprised._

  


“ _Next time, warn me when you're getting your pets!” she giggled._

  


“ _hehe sure sure! but anyway... here. let's talk to this echo flower. i made sure this one would never have passersby.”_

  


“ _Huh? Why?”_

  


“ _... so that when we grow up, we can go back to it and hear what we had to say as kids! you know?”_

  


“ _... So... what do you want us to say?”_

  


“ _... well...”_

  


***

  


“ugh...”

  


The skeleton in the blue hoodie groaned and found his vision blurry. Was that all a dream...? It felt so vivid. He sat up and looked around; he seemed to be tucked in what seems to be a bed. It was actually quite comfortable; with its blue fleece blanket and fluffy pillows, he was so tempted to fall back asleep. However, something made him feel quite at edge. He simply could not just lie back down...

  


“How are you feeling?”

  


Someone was sitting at the side of his bed, just watching him.

  


“...”

  


This person made him freeze.

  


“Sans...”

  


The person wanted to give him an embrace...

  


... but he retaliated. He backed away and let out a grimace as he gnashed his teeth. The person was none other than Dr. W.D. Gaster, the person he had told Shysta about not too long ago. He couldn't believe it... he knew he would meet him soon, but not this soon. He didn't know how to react...

  


“what... what am i doing here? where are my friends??”

  


“I brought you in here. Your friends... frankly, I'm not sure.” Gaster shrugged. He seemed to cry a little as he just stared at Sans, as he cocked his head to the side a little bit. “Sans... you've grown so much. Even Papyrus...”

  


“...”

  


“So, how are you? Are you married now?”

  


“... how could you talk so casually as if nothing's going on?? my friends... papyrus... where's pap...”

  


“Papyrus... he's in the other room. I tucked him in bed too. He seemed to like Blaster a lot.” Gaster chuckled at this and then he reached out for Sans' hand. He was able to lay a hand on his... his hands full of holes...

  


“...” Sans began to break down as he just stared down at the hand and then he stared back at Gaster. “i thought you were dead... why...”

  


“I thought you forgot me for good...”

  


“i couldn't... when i knew that my memories of you were slipping by, i... i...”

  


“... You drew this.” said Gaster as he got his hand off Sans' hand and took a piece of paper from his pocket. It was the very same piece of paper that Sans had shown Shysta before; the one with the childhood doodle of a tall figure holding the hands of two smaller figures. There were the words 'Never Forget'.

  


“...”

  


“Sans... you've grown up so much...” Gaster scooted closer to him and hugged him tightly.

  


“...” Sans hugged him back and started to break down as well. “dad...”

  


“My son...”

  


Gaster was able to keep himself from sobbing, but Sans couldn't... for someone who loved showing everyone he was cool under any situation, he had an emotional breakdown. He couldn't help but expunge all the feelings he had been keeping all these years...

  


“dad, i-i'm... i'm sorry... this was all my fault...”

  


“Shhh... it wasn't. You know it wasn't.” Gaster patted his back. “It wasn't your fault at all...”

  


“i... i...”

  


The father parted from his son to look at him again and just dry his tears with his thumb.

  


“Goodness me, look at you. All grown up, but still the same from when I last saw you... my son... tell me, did you... make that green robot?”

  


“...”

  


Sans started to calm down and then he wiped his face off his tears and looked up at his father again. “y-yes... yes i did, dad. did you see him anywhere? there's four of them... and... and...”

  


Memories started to rush in his mind like a gushing river... that was when he suddenly remembered what had happened, why they were here in the first place, and just how exactly he thought of making Shysta and Madsta's bodies. This man before him... according to his friends, this man kidnapped a whole clan of ghosts. This man... who he had called father.

  


“... where... where are they?”

  


“Your friends?”

  


“you kidnapped my friends' family. in fact, if we didn't save him, only one of them would be left to survive. where are they?”

  


Sans started to be more aggressive, remembering what his father had done. The kidnapping, Mettaton's weird activities and behaviour towards them... it wasn't right. And if he knew any better, he did recognise Mettaton's attached gadgets as his dad's crafstmanship.

  


“Oh... those ghosts. Sans, you don't need to know anymore about that. What matters is we're back together.”

  


“DAD!!” Sans screamed at him and got off his bed. “i have no time for games. i need to get those ghosts back, and... and... mettaton, whatever you've done to him! don't you know how pained my friend was seeing his cousin like that?!”

  


“...” Gaster's smile seemed to have faded. “My son, it's better this way.”

  


“how is this better?! that... that we're all happy and everyone else is miserable?”

  


“No... we'll ALL be happy, I promise you.” Gaster stood up as well and approached his son. “Me, you, Papyrus... even the ghosts, even your robots. Son... I have to say that you did a fine job making those robots.”

  


“i didn't make all of them. alphys made most of them.”

  


“Oh... Alphys. How is she? Have you two married yet?”

  


Sans seemed to react violently to this. “DAD!! this isn't the time!”

  


“DOWN, BOY!” they heard another voice. It was none other than the younger skeleton brother, trying to keep a blaster from smothering him with smooches. “SANS! MISTER! I WOKE UP TO THIS PUPPY LICKING MY FACE!”

  


“... Mister, he says.” Gaster couldn't help but feel sentimental seeing his other son finally wake up. “Okay, you two. How about we both go out and just... relive things, you know?”

  


“RELIVE THINGS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”

  


“nothing. papyrus, let's get out of here.” said Sans as he walked briskly to his brother and grabbed him by the arm. “we need to find the others.”

  


“Sans, no.” the older skeleton seemed to reprimand him. “You don't know what you're doing.”

  


“no, *you* don't know what you're doing! you put my friends in danger and now we're getting them back! i-if anything happened to them, i swear... i swear i'll forget that you were even my father!”

  


“...”

  


“WHA... WAIT, SANS... IS HE...?” Papyrus started to recognise the older skeleton as he stared at him more, but Sans dragged him away and they both walked briskly out of the door. Gaster did nothing but watch them walk away though, before he just sat back on the bed where he let his son rest.

  


***

  


The two brothers found themselves settled on a cold, dim-lit hallway. It was painted white like most of the rooms they have passed and many metallic automatic doors were aligned around it. It seemed to be a laboratory hallway of some sort. Sans just leaned against the wall as Papyrus stood just in front of him as soon as they had settled down.

  


“SANS, WHO WAS THAT? WAS THAT... WAS THAT DAD?” Papyrus finally opened up when they got to a far enough distance from the rooms they were let in.

  


“...” Sans couldn't keep a straight face, and couldn't seem to have a decent answer, and so he just nodded in reply.

  


“I... DAD...” Papyrus couldn't believe it. He just looked back at the direction they came from and then looked back at his older brother. “WHY WERE YOU MAD WITH HIM?”

  


“pap... he did this. the reason why mettaton is like this... and why the ghosts were kidnapped... it's all because of him.” Sans tried his best not to snap; his voice was quivering in intense mixed emotions. “he's... pap, he's not our dad...”

  


“SANS, YOU JUST SAID HE WAS OUR DAD! COME ON, MAYBE THERE WAS A REASON HE DID ALL THIS?”

  


“papyrus... i... don't know what to say. but in all honesty, i couldn't think of a decent reason why he would do this to us...” said Sans as he rested his face against his palm in exhaustion. “except maybe to get back at what i've done...”

  


“WHA... SANS, WHAT HAPPENED?”

  


“i... the reason why dad became like this... is because of me. it was all my fault. he says it wasn't, but of course he'd say that.”

  


“SANS?”

  


“i... i...”

  


Sans couldn't seem to find the right words for once, and for once, he seemed to have been at loss for words. He couldn't keep his voice calm, nor his face straight and cool... he was a mess, and he knew it. Embarrassing... and in front of his younger brother too... he should have been there to reassure his brother that everything was okay, like he usually did. But this was a special case...

  


“i'll tell you later. i just can't right now...”

  


“OKAY...”

  


That was when they heard a piercing scream from somewhere. It didn't seem too far away; the scream echoed throughout the dim-lit hallway amidst the faint purr of the centralised airconditioning unit. The scream sounded familiar...

  


“NAPSTABLOOK!!” the brothers exclaimed in unison and then they ran to the direction of the voice.

  


***

  


“Pinky... why...?”

  


The setting was the scene after the chaos... everything was scattered around in the laboratory they were held captive in. Madsta's body parts were scattered all around the room; only his head and torso were attached together. His limbs and hands looked as if they were forcefully garbled across the room by some powerful force.

  


Napstablook was held high in the air by his neck by none other than his cousin. He put both of his hands weakly on his cousin's hand that was forcefully strangling him. “Pinky...”

  


“I'll have to take the both of you to the Doctor. You didn't come with me peacefully. This was all your fault.”

  


Mettaton seemed to have tightened his grip on the poor crying robot.

  


“Maddie...” he called out weakly. “M-Maddie... I'm sorry... I'm... sorry...”

  


“There's no sorry here, only surrender. Now let's go. We'll take your friend later when we're done with you.” said Mettaton as he started to walk away, still with his cousin raised in the air by his neck.

  


“N-No... no... no, Pinky, please...” cried the poor blue robot weakly as he was getting taken away. “H-Help... help...”

  


The two have already left the room through an exit through one of the automatic doors in the room and that was when the two skeleton brothers were able to rush in the room through another automatic door, opposite the one Mettaton had gone through. They were panting in their rush as they scanned the room and looked for the blue robot... but they only saw the red robot's body scattered about the room.

  


“N-Naps... Nap-Nap...” Madsta cried weakly and then the two rushed to him. “Nap-Nap... I couldn't save him...”

  


“shhh... pap, look for his body parts. i'll be here to try and fix him up.” said Sans. He inspected the robot as the latter sobbed.

  


“I couldn't protect him... Mettaton just came in and... we were in this dark space and... everything went white, then Mettaton set us free but not without giving us a fight afterwards...” Madsta started to narrate everything as Sans examined him for any further injuries. “I tried to protect him, and he tried to fight but... Mettaton was too strong... when did he get that strong...??”

  


“we'll all save him. right now, we need to save you.” said Sans. “thankfully mettaton didn't really deal any fatal damage to you and i can fix you up with the things in this lab room.”

  


“SANS! I FOUND THEM ALL!”

  


“okay, that's good.” said Sans and then he started to fix up the crying red robot. He made sure the limbs were attached and that there were no fatal injuries he had missed. He cared a little too much for the red robot, seeing that he reminded him somewhat of his own brother. “... mads, have you seen shy anywhere?”

  


“Shy... I haven't seen him. Shy...” Madsta sobbed pathetically. “I can't lose him again... I lost him once already and that was too much... Shy...”

  


He couldn't stop calling for his cousin's name. The blue skeleton felt sorry for him... at least he had his brother and even met his dad, even if things... didn't really go out well. But Mads... he was on the verge of losing his whole family and the only person he actually cared about in his clan.

  


“we're going to find him, okay? s-someone told me that he's just around here somewhere.”

  


“YEAH, WE SAW OUR DAD!” Papyrus chirped up as he helped fix him up. The body seemed to be complete and well-assembled now.

  


“Your... dad?” said Madsta and then he tried to move around his limbs to make sure that they were secure. “Wow... good for you. Why would you see him here?”

  


Sans gulped at this and then he just looked at Madsta straight in the eye. “madsta... shysta and i had talked about this man i suspected to be your... family's kidnapper. turns out i was right...”

  


“... So your dad... kidnapped our family.”

  


Sans grabbed Papyrus' arm and drew him close, feeling wary of the red robot. He told himself that yes, this was Madsta. The red robot he and Alphys had created a body for... the red robot whose ghost was that of the Mad Dummy. He had always been known for his bad anger management, and the way his voice trailed off sounded... off, as if he was going to blow a fuse anytime again.

  


“madsta...”

  


“YOU KNEW ALL THIS FROM THE START, DIDN'T YOU?!” Madsta cried and then he stood up and looked down at the two, who had just stood up as well. “Why didn't you tell us?!”

  


“madsta, easy. we weren't able to tell you-”

  


“WHY?! You suspected your dad from the start to do this!”

  


“even if we told you, would that have changed anything?!”

  


“IT FEELS LIKE YOU'VE LIED TO ME!” Madsta started to cry out of anger and sadness. “Why does everyone keep things from me?! They all talk behind my back, leave me clueless... I'm grown up now! Why does everyone think I'm some dumb kid?! Even FRISK knows more than I do and they're an actual kid!”

  


Papyrus' face softened at this and then he stepped forward in front of his older brother. “MADSTA... I FEEL YOUR PAIN. EVERYONE TENDS TO KEEP THINGS AWAY FROM ME, TOO... BUT I KNOW IT'S BECAUSE THEY CARE FOR ME.”  
  


 

  


 

“Care for you?! Hiding things from you is caring for you?!”

  


“YES. THEY DIDN'T WANT ME HURT, AND THEY WANTED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM BEFORE I COULD FIND OUT ABOUT IT. THE WAY THAT... THAT SANS TOLD ME THAT DAD WAS ON VACATION AND HE WOULD COME BACK WHEN I'M ALL GROWN UP. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT DAD LOOKED LIKE... OR AT LEAST I KEPT ON FORGETTING.”

  


From behind his taller younger brother, Sans' face softened in both realisation and guilt. That was true... he HAD been lying to his brother quite a lot about things. He lied about their father's death, he lied about their current state in life.

  


“I LOVE MY BROTHER, BUT HE LIES. HE LIES ABOUT HOW RICH WE WERE, HE LIES ABOUT BEING LAZY FINDING JOBS, HE LIES ABOUT... DAD BEING ON VACATION, HE LIES ABOUT EVERYTHING. BUT HE DOES IT TO PROTECT ME FROM REALITY... AND THAT'S WHY I LOVE HIM.”

  


Sans' face started to form a grimace as he heard this from his own brother. All this time... Papyrus was picking up the things he was actually trying so hard to hide.

  


“MADSTA... WE'RE BOTH ON THE SAME PAGE, HERE. I'M NOT SAYING WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS... BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT SOMEONE IS WILLING TO UNDERSTAND YOU.”

  


“...” Madsta's face softened a little, hearing these words from the skeleton he once thought was too dumb to live. “Papyrus...”

  


“BUT YOU KNOW WHAT MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER? HUGS! NOW COME HERE, YOU BIG LUG!”

  


The red robot just stared at him for a while as he opened his arms for hugs. When he ran for a hug, Sans did as well and Papyrus had to hug the both of these crying babies.

  


“i'm so sorry, pap... i'm sorry...”

  


“Weeeehhhh... you do understand...”

  


Papyrus could hear both of the people he loves so dearly whimper in his bony arms, and then just snuggled against them. “IT'S OKAY, YOU TWO! NO USE CRYING OVER SPILLED MILK!”

  


“true... we have to find shysta.” said Sans, as he started to calm down a little. He parted and then looked up at the other two of the people he cares about and nodded. “right. i'll be the leader because i'm older than you two. we'll all look for shysta and napsta! then we can all rescue mettaton and everyone from whatever this all is!”

  


“YEAH! LEAD THE WAY, BRO!” Papyrus cheered as he raised his fist in approval.

  


Madsta did the same and tried his best to smile through the tears. “Let's do this together...”

  


They all put their right hands stacked on top of each other.

  


“TEAM AWESOME! GO!!” Sans cheered and then they all raised their hands and let out their cheer before proceeding out the door Mettaton got out from.

  


***

  


“Pinky... w-why...”

  


Napstablook was harshly thrown to the cold tiled ground in a separate room, presumably far away from where all the others had stayed in. Mettaton just looked down at him after throwing him as if he was just an inanimate object. The pain was too real for him... the only person he trusted with his life was now the person he feared the most at the moment. Why is this happening? Everything used to be so peaceful before the whole ordeal happened... now he doesn't know what fate will befall his friends, his family... he doesn't even know what will happen to him.

  


Vines started to creep up from the cracks of the tiles and Napstablook started to feel scared. He tried to move away as part of his reflex action, but the vines were quick to grab his wrists and wrapped around the both of them from behind him. His legs were bound as well, and no matter how much he struggled, it only became worse for him. The vines gripped even more tightly around his limbs, even to his torso and his neck. Some of them were trailing to his face, and that's when he decided to stop. He doesn't know what will happen next if he kept on struggling for his freedom.

  


“HAHAHAHA! That's right, squirm you little crybaby!”

  


A screen started to lower down from the ceiling just behind the pink robot. It started to flicker and then it showed the face of a smiling flower with yellow petals. Mettaton turned to face the flower and just stared up at the monitor.

  


“Flowey.” Mettaton started. “Now that we have all the ghosts from the Spooks, and even my cousin... don't you think it's time to start?”

  


“Yeah, I don't know. They decide. For now, I just want to take a closer look at your cousin.”

  


“... Why?”

  


Napstablook cried in pain as the vines wrapped even more tightly around his body that they almost did dents and damage to the poor robot. “Hah... no... AAAAH!!”

  


The monitor turned to the crying robot and then the flower just scoffed. “It's because of HIM I wasn't able to get everyone's SOULs! Him and his dumb 'oh I'm scared of everyone' shtick. It's so frustrating!”

  


“... Flowey, you look... a little bewildered. Are you okay?” a jet pack came out from Mettaton's back and then he flew up to the monitor to inspect Flowey better. He was actually wearing... earmuffs around his stem?

  


“Yeah... I just had the sailor talk of a lifetime. That was horrible.” Flowey looked like he cringed a little. “I mean, yeah I'm cool getting the SOULs but bad words are ew they disgust me!”

  


The blue robot couldn't stop crying as the vines kept on wrapping themselves tighter and firmer around him. His vision was blurry with tears... when he cried too much, some of his tears dropped down on the vines and made the flower scream in pain.

  


“WHAT THE- IT BURNS!” screamed Flowey.

  


That was when Mettaton turned back to his cousin with a dead stare. He slowly strutted over to him and grabbed some cloth on the way. He crouched down to stare into his cousin's eyes. Teary ivory eyes met dead pink eyes. The poor blue robot tried to call out for his name again...

  


“P-Pinky...” he was terrified... he felt like a rabbit caught in a cage, not knowing what these hunters had in store for him.

  


Mettaton drew the cloth and wrapped it around his eyes that acted as a blindfold. The other initially struggled, but as soon as he felt the vines wrap around even tighter, he stopped and just cried. The cloth started to soak up his tears so that the flower would no longer be stung by his acid tears.

 

  
  


 

“That's better. Geez.” Flowey sighed. “What about the others? Did you get them too? That sailor and that reject Castlevania guy?”

  


“I'll get them somehow. I left the Madsta to bring this in, but I think anybody could have gotten him. Shysta...”

  


Mettaton started to glitch out at the mention of Shysta's name that Flowey had to support him with one of his vines.

  


“Get a hold of yourself! You've been glitching out a lot now, you know? Did Gaster do a horrible job at recoding you again?”

  


“No, it's just... Blooky... Shy... h-hah!” Mettaton clutched his head tightly and was forced to kneel down the ground in pain.

  


“SNAP OUT OF IT! Remember, this is for everyone's good! Remember what they said!”

  


“I know... I know... I...” Mettaton groaned.

  


“Boy, you're the worst actor I've ever seen.”

  


“I-I wasn't acting, I... Gaster reprogrammed me to do all this... I-I couldn't possibly... c-could you not hurt Blooky too much...?”

  


“If you start acting funny again, I'll have no choice but to kill him, friendo.”

  


Napstablook could only hear the voices in the darkness after he had been blindfolded. He was completely immobile as he could only sob in uncertainty... he didn't want it all to end this way. But... he saw no hope. He didn't know what was going to befall him, hearing that this Flowey fellow didn't seem to have any mercy in him.

  


“Now get out there and get the others. Stat!”

  


“R-Right... o-okay...” said Mettaton as he got up with the help of the vines and then strutted away, but not without looking back at the blue robot bound helplessly. “...”

  


He let out a worried grimace and then he went back to crouch down in front of his helpless cousin. He gently put a hand on the robot's face and then he got back up and walked away. He seemed pained by all this... he blinked and his eyes turned red as he walked out of the room, leaving Napstablook in Flowey's custody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter felt cluttered to me because BOOM BANG too many things to consider! Hopefully the next chapters are less chaotic. For now, I hope you enjoy! ♥ things don't really get better from here on out from what I see.


	20. Shy and Mad

###  **Chapter 20: Shy and Mad**

  
  


“hey, since we don't know if we're making it out of here alive, i thought you guys should know that i really love you and i'm proud to have been part of making you a body, mads. and i always loved you, lil bro.”

  
  


Sans was speaking to them as he, Papyrus, and Madsta were just sitting down on the ground, tired. They seemed to be in the middle of a hallway, out of many other hallways that had branched out from it. The way they see it, they seem to be in a maze...

  
  


“HEY, DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT, SANS! WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT OUT OF HERE!”

  
  


“I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's right, Papyrus... I don't know if we'll make it out of here alive. I-I mean... now that I'm turning corporeal and all... this situation is so emotionally-exhausting.” Madsta leaned against a wall, looking like he needs a good rest to get his systems all healthier again.

  
  


Papyrus wanted to be the hope of the team, but when he was about to say something, he felt the ground shift and he held on tightly to his other companions.

  
  


“there it is again...” said Sans with a sarcastic chuckle. “we're getting nowhere...”

  
  


The halls looked like they were actually shifting and swapping with each other, so that whenever they made progress, they didn't really know where they were anymore. Seeing as there was no means of outside communication, Sans couldn't ask Alphys if she could devise something to help them out. Madsta's inner navigation system is blocked as well, and so he can't use it to lead the team. They felt utterly hopeless as they had no idea what to do.

  
  


“M-MAYBE WE SHOULD GO AND CHECK OUT THE NEW HALLS!”

  
  


“Come on, Pap... I admire your optimism but... have you seen any rooms at all when we moved around? There are no rooms. Just empty halls.”

  
  


“... WELL...”

  
  


Now even Papyrus looked a little discouraged. He looked down at the tiled ground sadly, and his brother surely took notice. Seeing this, Sans sighed and let out a little hopeless smile.

  
  


“hey, cheer up. i guess what we just really need is a rest right now so we can plan better. but... like i said, i don't know if we're going out alive.

  
  


“WHY DON'T YOU USE YOUR TIME TELEPORTING MUMBO JUMBO OR SOMETHING?” Papyrus seemed a little perked up at the idea.

  
  


“i would, if i didn't feel so weak. dad must've done something to me.” Sans growled a little at this. “and he took my blasters, too. i'm so mad with him right now.”

  
  


The red robot decided not to butt in their conversation, seeing it was family-related. Hearing them talk made him miss his own family; he thought of Shysta's safety... he wondered if his own cousin was still alive out there, and if his own family was still held captive. Sure, they can't kill ghosts but... seeing what they had done to his cousin before... FORCING them to be corporeal... it was all too possible to kill them that way.

  
  


The state of being corporeal was a choice; it wasn't supposed to be forced.

  
  


The thought made him cry a little, and the brothers took notice of this. They looked at him with concerned grimaces and then started to try calming him down.

  
  


“I-I just... I'm sorry, I can't stop thinking of Shysta and my family... and how I could possibly have failed them if I couldn't make it out of here alive.” Madsta sobbed as he hugged his knees.

  
  


Both Sans and Papyrus sat by either side of him and tried to comfort him with gentle pats to his shoulder and to his back. They just stayed quiet so that if the robot needed something out, they would just be there to listen to him. The whole situation must have been tough on him, feeling as if he was going to lose everything in just one swoop.

  
  


“I-I'm sorry, you guys shouldn't be worrying about me like this.” stuttered the red robot. “I-I couldn't even save my cousin... h-he... t-the way he saved me before... auuuughhhh I feel so horrible!!”

  
  


Sans and Papyrus looked at each other as their friend continued to cry hard on his own knees. Something piqued Sans' curiosity though, so he decided to ask Madsta about something. After all, maybe talking about his cousin would make him feel better? Just a shot in the dark.

  
  


“shy... mads, what did he do to save you before?” asked Sans as he looked back at the crying robot.

  
  


“H-He... w-well...” Madsta expunged the last of his tears before he was able to proceed. He stopped hugging his knees and then he unfolded his legs and sat, tailor's style, as he wiped some of the last few tears falling. He was still sobbing, however. “When Shy and I were still little ghosts, we were just playing...”

  
  


***

  
  


The setting was the Waterfall, back when there weren't that many trash accumulated in it; there were a few, but not too littered. Just beyond the waterfall was the home of the richer, more well-off Blooks and their houses and family business. There were a few ghosts flying here and there, but for the most part the watery trash haven was unoccupied. There was a tiny ghost making its way through the place, as they squeaked at the top of their own little ghost voice.

  
  


“SHY!! HEY! Shysta!!” said the tiny Spook. It was the young Madsta floating over fast to their older cousin. “Shyyyy! Check out this neat body I found the other day!”

  
  


“Body...?” Shysta looked back at them and chuckled a little. “Mads, I'm not even thinking of getting a body yet. Don't you think you're too young for that?”

  
  


“HEY! Don't tell me what to do! So do you wanna see it or not? Or do you want to keep hanging out with your GIRLFRIEND??” Madsta sneered at the older ghost as they stared at the ghost phone that Shysta was holding.

  
  


“... We're just friends. Besides, I don't even know if they actually remember me... they're way too popular.” Shysta sighed at this and then they kept their phone. “Alright, cuz. But you have to promise me that you will get corporeal when you're old enough, okay? Now where is this body you told me about?”

  
  


Madsta was exhilarated. They flied about in circles and they slowly ascended as they did so, just to show how high-spirited they were about all this. Shysta only chuckled at this and then they held their tiny cousin by the ghost nub before they could rise any further.

  
  


“Easy, tiger. You'd be out of the underground at that rate.”

  
  


“I'd love to do that, but there's that dumb barrier right??” Madsta growled a little at him. He sounded like a tiny tiger cub trying to be intimidating like its mom... Shysta found this too cute and just laughed out loud at it.

  
  


“Oh, Mads... you know just how to make me laugh. Alright, show me this future body of yours.” Shysta tried their best not to laugh any further.

  
  


Madsta made sure they held their cousin's bigger ghost nub and then they floated away from the Waterfall. They made their way up to the wooden floors, where later in the future, Undyne would be chasing Frisk down to the watery trash haven to kill them. But for now, these wooden floors were actually the Spooks' future home... or the Blooks'? It wasn't sure. Both clans were to face off someday to decide who wins most of the place. They went around the pathways and looked around it.

  
  


“Boy, wouldn't it be great if we won this thing? It's huge! Then we could party all we want, well... they could. I don't like parties. I just want to drink that fizzy ghost drink!”

  
  


“Madsta...” Shysta laughed at this again. “You're too young for that too. Tell you what. When you're old enough, we'll drink together alright?”

  
  


“ALRIGHT!!” Madsta seemed excited. “I wanna grow up already! Just think of all the fun stuff you can do! You can get a body, get corporeal, and do all sorts of grown up things!”

  
  


Shysta only sighed at this and patted their little ghostly head. “Mads, just enjoy your childhood. That's one of the things you can never bring back. And when you get older... well, things just aren't as fun as they seem. You'll understand when you get older.”

  
  


“They always say that! HUFF. Anyway, we're almost there!”

  
  


They floated all the way back... way back, to the area where it seemed to rain a lot. It was weird... they didn't understand where all this water was coming from given that they don't have any real weather system. They were underground! Perhaps the walls above them weren't as crumbled as the walls back in their Waterfall home where water really gushed forth... seeing as they were ghosts, they didn't really feel the need to find something like an umbrella.

  
  


As they went along, Madsta became even more excited. They finally made it. Madsta eagerly floated over to a figure not too far from where they floated. Shysta looked... unsettled, at this. They merely had the expression of shock on their ghostly face, as they saw where their clueless little cousin had floated over to.

  
  


“What do you think? Pretty cool, huh? You surprised I found this body before you did? WEHEHEH!! Too bad, I call dibs on it!” the little ghost cackled like the little gremlin they were.

  
  


“Mads... out of all the bodies, why this one?” Shysta could not believe their little cousin.

  
  


The body that their cousin wanted to fuse in the future was... a statue. And not just any statue... it was the statue underneath the curious little spot where it only rained directly above it. They shook their head as they floated over their little cousin.

  
  


“Mads... try to find another body.” said Shysta with disbelief on their face. “Y-You can't take this one. It's... it's special, alright?”

  
  


“Eeeeehhhhh?? You're gonna take it for yourself, wouldn't you? WEH! As if! AS IF! AS IF!!!!!” Madsta started to fly around in circles again, feeling a little mad at this.

  
  


“No.” Shysta said sternly and then they held their cousin in place. “You can't use that.”

  
  


Since the little Spook didn't understand, they threw a tantrum and then shook themselves loose of their cousin's grip. They floated away fast, farther away from their older cousin. Their older cousin was alarmed at this and then they floated after them, but their tiny cousin was unexpectedly faster.

  
  


“MADS!! Come back here! We should head home!”

  
  


“NO! Not until I get a body that YOU won't take in as your own!”

  
  


It seems that they couldn't make their younger cousin understand no matter what they said, and so they just set their mind to getting a hold of them so they could go home and ask some older ghosts about the statue.

  
  


Legends say that it was a statue made in commemoration of someone who had just died... a commemoration of someone who never had the privilege of becoming older. It was a sad, tragic story that shook the whole underground. However, that was a little while ago so it happened before their cousin was even born... that's why they couldn't make them understand.

  
  


“Mads, let me just tell you why neither of us can never use that body!”

  
  


In their wild GHOUL chase, they seemed to have phased through someone. The someone just stood there, chilled and frozen... Shysta saw this, but did not turn back til they got their naughty little tantrum-throwing cousin and dragged them back.

  
  


“HEY!! Let go!!”

  
  


“Mads, enough!” they repeatedly said their cousin's name to emphasize that they had done something wrong. “Look, we phased through someone! Poor kid... hey, hey kid? Are you alright?”

  
  


“Weeeehhhhh that was cold...”

  
  


It was a little girl with spectacles, and unlike them, she was corporeal. She seemed to be a kid about Madsta's age, if ghosts aged the same way normal, corporeal non-boss monsters did. She looked at them and fixed her glasses.

  
  


“I'm sorry about that. My little cousin was so... stubborn. We were just heading home. Are you alright?” Shysta tried to help her up, but they were incorporeal... they couldn't make contact with corporeal folk.

  
  


“Y-Yeah, I'm okay!” said the little girl. “I was just on the way home, myself! I was about to take the ferry back to the Hotlands!”

  
  


“I see. What are you doing out here all alone, anyway? This doesn't seem like the way to school.” Shysta seemed concerned.

  
  


“Oh, I was just... well, I was visiting an echo flower. It was all the way out here... I'm figuring out a way to take it home without killing it but... I don't think it can handle the heat of Hotlands. It would die on the way home...”

  
  


***

  
  


Back outside of the flashbacks, Sans looked utterly unsettled... and to an extent, guilty. Madsta had stopped relaying his story momentarily seeing the older skeleton like this.

  
  


“Sans, do you know the girl I was talking about?”

  
  


“yeah, and so do you.”

  
  


“Yeah, I do. I just didn't realise it sooner because... because of my scar. As for Shy, well... I saw them talk in private the other day before we set out. They remember each other, but as for me...”

  
  


“so... this scar of yours causes memory loss?”

  
  


“...” Madsta looked ashamed of himself and then he slowly nodded. “I even forget Shysta's name sometimes. Or even my own, I think? I don't know, Shy told me about it. I told Nap-Na... Naps, about it before... I was about to tell him after all this, but... Naps, I hope he's okay...”

  
  


“YOU'RE GOING TO CONFESS TO HIM, RIGHT? I HEARD YOU AND SHYSTA TALKING ABOUT IT WHILE TRAINING!” Papyrus seemed like chills were running down his spine, seeing how deeply infatuated the red robot was with the blue one.

  
  


Madsta looked like he was going to cry hard again, but he kept it in this time. “I'm not confessing anything.”

  
  


Sans observed this and then he just hugged the red robot tightly. “that's how life is, kid. it's okay. it's okay... i... i understand you.”

  
  


“I-I don't understand... I did everything... I got this body to save my family and to... to impress him. I wanted to be big and muscular so I'd feel stronger and more mature and, a-and... and I tried my best to keep him happy and... I did everything to win his heart... w-why...”

  
  


This time, Madsta sobbed on Sans' shoulder and hugged him very tightly, as if there was no tomorrow. Papyrus joined in the hugs and even snuggled up to the red robot, seeing how badly he was in need of it.

  
  


“MMM DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU SMELLED LIKE CHOCOLATE, MADSTA?” said Papyrus as he snuggled against him.

  
  


“must be the flavoured coolants alph and metta made.” said Sans with a chuckle. “the same way mettaton smells like strawberry, naps smells like vanilla, and shy smells like green tea. scented robots seem like the way to go.”

  
  


“I JUST WANT TO EAT YOU UP!” said Papyrus as he snuggled even more against the crying red robot.

  
  


“Weeeeehhh stop that...” said Madsta with a little whine. “I-I could continue with my story, you know. This is the story I wanted to tell Naps before.”

  
  


“alright, let's hear it.” Sans nodded.

  
  


Not long after, Madsta started with his story again. He felt at ease in the presence of the two loving brothers... the people he felt he could trust with his life, besides his older cousin Shysta.

  
  


***

  
  


“Why would you want to bring an echo flower home?” asked Shysta.

  
  


“This one particular echo flower means a lot to me.” said Alphys a little sadly.

  
  


The three were on the way back to the area of the Waterfall where echo flowers populated the territory. Madsta was quite puzzled at this to be quite honest, when they could always go back to where the Spooks lived so it was quicker for them to take the ferry.

  
  


They made it past the small waterfalls with rocks and stones, and even solved bridge seed puzzles together. It was honestly a little funny how monsters seemed obsessed with laying out puzzles here and there.

  
  


“Ah, this reminds me of a puzzle.” said Shysta with a chuckle.

  
  


“THESE PUZZLES MAKE ME FEEL SO INFERIOR.” Madsta whined. “Why didn't we take the shorter route back home??”

  
  


“Because our friend here cannot fly, and so she may die upon impact. We really need to make stairs there for when we get new bodies.” Shysta thought out loud as they progressed. “That and... she said she wanted to go to Snowdin, right Alphys?”

  
  


“Yeah... I'm just going to check something out there.” said Alphys with a small smile. “You don't really have to go with me, you know! I-I can take care of myself.”

  
  


“We'd choose not to let an innocent child out in the open where puzzles can be so scary to them.” said the older ghost with a nod, to which Alphys only laughed at.

  
  


“Oh my gosh, Shysta... you are so funny!” she snorted a little at this, then she looked like she suddenly was reminded of something that her spirits started to die down.

  
  


Shysta perceived this as they were always the type to know how to read between lines... for now, they decided not to press the issue further. They just kept going until they reached a snowy town, much to the young girl's relief. It was extra chilly for someone like her who was used to higher temperatures however, so she grabbed a thick hooded fur coat from her backpack and moved on.  
  
  


  


 

“Do ghosts get cold?” asked the reptilian child as she hid her hands in her coat pockets.

  
  


Shysta looked around and shrugged. “Well, not really. But Madsta here is wondering if body icicles were possible.”

  
  


“Hmm... well, I never tested it out! But I think some can use nose drippings as a pair of chopsticks.”

  
  


The Spook cousins looked intrigued by this and started to imagine different scenarios where they could get a pair of frozen nose drippings when they get a body. They were just a little grateful they were immune to extreme temperatures unlike the corporeal folk.

  
  


They accompanied the little girl through the snowy town as she seemed to look for something... she sighed, as if feeling a little hopeless and then she just proceeded down to the ferry to wait for it. The older ghost felt that something was off and so they decided to try and have a little chat with her about it.

  
  


“Is there anything the matter?” asked Shysta. They looked concerned for her.

  
  


“Well... I was just trying to look for someone. I don't think they live here anymore.” Alphys looked quite sad about this. “B-But hey, I expected that! L-Let's just go and wait for the ferry, alright?”

  
  


The ferry arrived in a few moments of waiting, but... it looked like Shysta didn't want to get on it; and neither did they want to get the other two children on it as well. The River Person looked... different today. In ghost terms, it's the aura that they usually feel and not the actual face value of someone. It's something different that they have with most monsters and it's what sets them apart most of the time.

  
  


Alphys didn't notice anything different with the ferryman's appearance, but something held her from going on the boat along with Shysta stopping her.

  
  


However, being a young ghost, Madsta didn't really think of it as anything odd. All they knew is that they wanted to get on a boat ride and they flew over in the boat despite the older ghost who told them not to get on.

  
  


“BAH! I just want to have a boat ride! Take us away, ferry person!” Madsta sounded like an excited little kid.

  
  


The ferryman seemed to take delight in this and looked at them, then back to the other two with the little ghost. They seemed to beckon the other two to join them, but they couldn't bring themselves to go on the boat. Shysta wanted to get their little cousin, but for some reason they felt frozen... they had to think of something to get the feisty little ghost back.

  
  


“What a cute little ghost child...” said the River Person. They crouched down to pat the little ghost's head.

  
  


When they crouched down, that's when Madsta freaked out but stayed frozen in place. The ferry person was able to lay their hand on the little ghost's forehead...

  
  


“WAAAAAHHHH!! IT BURNS!!” Madsta screamed in pain as they flinched in reflex. They could feel the burning sensation of... whatever had happened to them. It felt like they were going to die... what was this feeling??

  
  


The sensation felt too real... as if it was tearing apart their ghostly head. They cried and writhed in so much agony that they began to scream out their cousin's name.

  
  


“SHYSTA!! SHYSTAAAA!!”

  
  


***

  
  


“SHYSTAAAAAAAAAA!!”

  
  


Madsta began to cry out loud in the real world as if he just felt the torture he had felt from way back when he was a little ghost. He held onto his head and he started to bawl his eyes out.

  
  


“Shystaaaa... Shysta.... don't leave me.... Shysta......”

  
  


The two brothers felt alarmed at this and they began to hug him even more tightly, to make sure that they make him feel like he's not alone. But of course, nothing can ever compare to his cousin's company.

  
  


“I'm going to die...” Madsta said in barely above a shaky whisper.

  
  


“you're not going to die. not on our watch.” said Sans as he snuggled against him.

  
  


“YOU DON'T HAVE TO CONTINUE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO, MADS!” Papyrus looked very concerned.

  
  


“N-No... my scar... you have to know what happened to my scar... I think this is all relevant information... haaaaaah...... Shysta.......”

  
  


Madsta kept on whimpering til he started to feel a little good enough to continue his story. Feeling that he may or may not see Shysta again brings such grief to his heart.

  
  


***

  
  


Shysta unfroze upon hearing they cousin cry out in so much fear and pain, that they charged at the River Person. The thing is... the River Person just... disappeared? This was all too inexplicably strange... but right now he had to focus on calming their little cousin down.

  
  


“Mads! Are you alright? Mads!” said Shysta as they brushed away the little ghost nubs that held onto the spot the stranger had laid their hands on.

  
  


“Hah... hah... Shy, it hurts.... it hurts...”

  
  


Shysta was in shock when they saw what was left on their little cousin's head. A strange, hole-like void started to form on the little ghost forehead where the stranger had touched them. They looked back where Alphys was, but she seemed to have run off... she didn't take long though. She got somebody to help them. Perhaps it was the first person she ran to, or someone that she knew? Or someone that reminded her of her own hot home.

  
  


“...”

  
  


The help that came seemed to be a fire monster of some sort. He had spectacles and protective gear on; rain boots, rain coat... of course, this was all to avoid any form of water contact given his structure. He seemed rather young, and if he did age the same way ghosts did, they thought he was about Shysta's age or a little older.

  
  


“...”

  
  


Both Shysta and the young flame monster stared at each other for a while in awkward silence, probably something they shared in common.

  
  


“Come on! We have to take them back to my home to treat them! W-We don't know what this could be and if I can really help but... but my parents could have something to help them with!”

  
  


The flame monster nodded at this and helped make sure that everyone was sitting securely on the ferry boat before rowing it for them from the icy cold Snowdin, to the moist and cool Waterfall, down to the blistering, flaming Hotlands.

  
  


***

  
  


“That flame monster was really nice... he, along with Shy and Alphys helped fix me up. Urgh... I knew I should've known that kind of hospitality anywhere... Alphys helped me out back then with my... whatever that was, and now she made me this robot body with you...” Madsta said as he looked down at his own palms.

  
  


“that's alph for you. she's a really nice person.” said Sans. He sounded a little sad hearing his story, even how he shared part of his life with Alphys at one point. He recognised the flame monster as well and gave a nod of approval. When he gets home, he told himself he'd talk it over with him.

  
  


“I don't know how Alph and her parents managed to fix me up, but they just... did, you know? That thing on my head stopped growing after they've sewn it up and it settled down. But had we gotten any later than we did, I probably would have dissolved into nothing...”

  
  


Madsta shuddered at the thought of it and then he began to cry to himself again. After he calmed down a little, he looked up at Sans and Papyrus once more... but mostly at Sans.

  
  


“Sans... what did you say your dad looked like again?” Madsta started to remember. He sounded quite scared as he asked him, as his voice was barely above a whisper.

  
  


“...” Sans started to feel unsettled. “he looks a little like us; tall, slender, and he loves wearing black. he said that black was the colour of elegance. and... recently, he has holes in his hands.”

  
  


The red robot looked like he started to hyperventilate hearing this and wailed even more. He looked like he was starting to get hysterical, like he couldn't make sense of anything anymore. He just repeatedly called out for his cousin Shysta, over and over again...

  
  


Seeing the red robot cry like this... made Sans feel dreadful. He stood up and then he started to scout the hallways. He felt determined to put an end to all this. Madsta was starting to feel something like a little brother to him... and he would NOT stand seeing him cry like this. They were going to find a way out and rescue everyone, if it's the last thing they do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this time around I've realised just how much I love the dumb chocobae. Hope you like it! ♥  
> And yes, it hasn't been mentioned much in the fic but my bots are scented!  
> And who's dat cameo


	21. Face-Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally an update in what seems to be forever! I haven't really written or drawn coloured pictures in a long while, so I hope the update's fine!  
> On a side note... Shysta was pretty fun to draw. Shy as in socially awkward, but definitely not shameless. 

###  **Chapter 21: Face-Off**

  
  


“Why are you all alone here?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


“Are you deaf?”

  
  


“I can hear you. I love being alone.”

  
  


Two ghosts can be seen talking with each other just in front of the waterfall entrance back in the Underground. They seem to be quite young compared to most ghosts, seeing that there were other ghosts just floating around that looked a little bigger and older. There was an annual reunion once again, and so the older ghosts were talking to each other, showing off their accomplishments in life.

  
  


The Blook clan showed their new business – it was a snail farm. There was a tiny pen that held a few small snails feeding on some plants. The Spook clan showed off the new bodies they had just recently found; some worn out, that didn't look like they were good vessels to hold onto forever.

  
  


The two young ghosts were sitting by the waterfall entrance, just staring at the gushing river.

  
  


“Why do you like being alone?” said the ghost. They seemed to be from the Blook clan.

  
  


“I just do. I'm not so fond of being with other people.” said the other ghost who came from the Spook clan.

  
  


The Blook giggled at this which left the other wondering.

  
  


“What's so funny?”

  
  


“Nothing. You just sounded like my cousin a little while back there, so I understand where you're coming from.” said the Blook and then they looked back at the waterfall just in front of them. They let out a sigh. “Where do you think the water comes from?”

  
  


“... I don't know. I never thought about that.”

  
  


“Do you think there's some giant out there crying 24/7? If so, I don't want them to stop because other people would get so thirsty and they would die!”

  
  


“That would be gross.” said the antipathetic Spook. “And it's not like we drink the stuff.”

  
  


The Blook pouted a little at this and then they looked at the young Spook; up and down, up and down. They seemed to examine the young ghost and then they started floating around them. The other didn't seem to mind though; it's like they could care less.

  
  


“What?” the Spook just seemed to raise a brow at this.

  
  


“Nothing. I'm just trying to look for a heart there.”

  
  


“Even if I did have one, what good would it do you?”

  
  


“WAH!”

  
  


The Blook seemed a little alarmed at this and then they pouted.

  
  


“You must be fun at parties, huh?”

  
  


“Yeah, I definitely am.”

  
  


The Spook definitely felt snarky... but it felt all too natural for them to be like this.

  
  


“Well then... if you really are fun, then let's go see just how fun you are!”

  
  


The Blook grabbed the Spook's ghost nub and then dragged them along back to the reunion proper. The Spook tried to shake their nub off and realised that the other had tricked them. They couldn't stop staring at the other ghost who was busy dragging them off while giggling.

  
  


***

  
  


“Rebooting... 80%... 90%... 100%.”

  
  


Shysta opened his eyes slowly as his vision began to recalibrate itself to its new surroundings. He turned his head around, trying to familiarize himself with wherever he could be. There were many lights in a cluster just in front of him, and the tiles were glossy and familiar... that's right, this still looked like it was part of the lab.

  
  


What is this place, though? The only thing he knows right now is that his head hurts and his systems were hurting as well... that last fight with Mettaton was starting to get intense when he put an end to it.

  
  


That's right... where's Mettaton? The last thing he saw before he blacked out was that this kidnapper of theirs took him away.

  
  


“Gah...” he groaned as he tried to get up, but he could not. That was when he realised he was strapped onto a surgery table, his hands above his head and his legs strapped down tight. “Wha... oh, great.”

  
  


He turned his head to another direction and saw that their kidnapper was slowly approaching him. Seeing as there was nothing he could do, he just stared at him, as if waiting for his fate.

  
  


“You're awake.”

  
  


“Obviously.”

  
  


Their kidnapper was finally just next to him, just staring down at him. The light above them was glaring... so much that it cast a silhouette around the kidnapper's face and it was a little harder for Shysta to recalibrate his vision.

  
  


“So... aren't you going to dismantle me or something?” Shysta said.

  
  


“Oh heavens, no. I just wanted to take a good look at you.” said Gaster as he opened the other's heart tank. “Mettaton, would you be a darling as to grab me my magnifying glass?”

  
  


Mettaton strutted into view with a toolbox in hand. This was when Shysta looked like he showed an ounce of emotion in him... it was hard to read if his face looked like it was scared, or sad, or horrified... or even concerned. He didn't take his gaze off the pink robot.

  
  


... His eyes were red. The last time Shysta saw the pink robot's eyes, they were pink and welcoming.

  
  


“Hello, Shysta.” said the other robot who held the toolbox. He grabbed the magnifying glass from inside of it and handed it over to Gaster.

  
  


Gaster took the magnifying glass and began to take a closer look at Shysta's internal systems. He brushed the heart away a little bit to check the tank's interior, and then looked at the heart itself. He tried to study the structure, it seemed.

  
  


“Mettaton, my dear. Could you take a closer look at this and analyze it for me? His heart seems a little different compared to yours.” said Gaster and then he moved away a little to give way to the other robot.

  
  


Mettaton crouched lower to inspect the heart tank and he began to analyze it. Shysta could only struggle a little at his restraints with a faint blush forming on his cheeks.

  
  


  
  


 

“Geez, you two. I feel so violated right now... can you just. Stop?” he frowned at this and looked down at the pink robot. He thought of flying out of his robot body, but he was thinking of doing that later on. He didn't know what they would do to his body if he did that, and he certainly didn't want it to be a vessel used for something else against the ghosts later on, like they did to Mettaton. He had to keep it occupied, no matter how tense he felt.

  
  


The pink robot was finally through analyzing the tank and he turned to Gaster explaining the results. It seemed that the heart tanks were actually made of similar material, but the model was just more advanced. Mettaton was an earlier model after all, and Shysta was the latest robot made thus far.

  
  


“Very well. Mettaton, I'll need you to watch over Shysta here. Just give a thorough examination of his body and then we'll figure out what to do with him later.”

  
  


“Understood, Doctor.”

  
  


The doctor started to walk away and then he exited out of the room, leaving the other two in still, awkward silence. Neither of them spoke to each other for a period of time as they just kept still where they were. Mettaton started up though, and then he turned to examine the mint robot once more. This time, he grabbed his face and just... stared at him.

  
  


“Can you snap out of it now?” asked Shysta as he simply stared back.

  
  


“...”

  
  


“Well, if you want to stare at me then I won't stop you.”

  
  


Shysta didn't know what to do... the pink robot didn't seem to listen to him no matter what he did; it was as if he was thoroughly reprogrammed so that they may do whatever they had in store for them and the rest of the Spook Clan. He wanted to fly out of his body to try and find his cousin, since the other had talked about him earlier, but he was afraid of becoming a vessel of theirs against the rescue team. He can't possibly make things worse than they already were.

  
  


He just endured the feeling of helplessness and uneasiness as Mettaton began to inspect his body once more for any details that Gaster may need.

  
  


“...” he closed his eyes as he bit his lip and blushed hard, while Mettaton started to analyze his systems again. It seems that robots do in fact, sweat. The steam that accumulates in their system start to form on their robotic skin as dew-like drops or sweat, and it's exactly what was happening to Shysta. He didn't know what to feel about this...

  
  


That is, until he heard someone seem to barge in the room. Funny, he didn't see anyone... he just saw some sort of a gigantic tendril sliding inside the room.

  
  


“Flowey.” said Mettaton as he turned to it. “What's wrong?”

  
  


It seems that it was a part of Flowey. The flower seemed omnipresent within the vicinity they were held in, so that no matter where he went, he could talk with anyone. Could he be holding this whole place together?

  
  


“No matter how hard I shift the place... they seem to know how to get around it! I should have known. This IS Gaster's son after all!”

  
  


Shysta's eyes widened upon hearing this. He was right with his hunch all along; Sans was Gaster's son. It wasn't too hard to deduce it, but it still came a little surprising hearing it with his own two ears.

  
  


“What do you propose we do then? How is this a threat?” Mettaton asked calmly as he let go of Shysta's face and stroked Flowey's tendril instead.

  
  


“I can hear them. If they get here, they could get this crybaby over here.” Flowey hissed. “And if they get him, there's more of them, and if there's more of them, they could revolt!”

  
  


“Very well.” Mettaton sighed and then he flipped his fringe before he looked at the captive robot in his midst again. “I suppose I have to get moving, darling. Don't worry, we will have fun later on. Flowey, make sure he doesn't try anything funny as I leave.”

  
  


“I'm strapped to a table. How can I do anything at all, for that matter?” Shysta snapped.

  
  


The pink robot's back opened up and a few gears shifted so that he can grow his jet wings. The tendril started to slide away from the room and Mettaton followed it, leaving the mint robot all alone once more.

  
  


***

  
  


“so that's what's happening. something's shifting the rooms and halls.” said Sans. The other two younger members of his team followed close behind him. “all we have to do is see which segment gets switched out and move to the right path.”

  
  


They observed the place getting shifted; the only reason they kept on coming back to the same place was because they allowed themselves to progress without looking at any pattern.

  
  


“So it's just a matter of waiting and selecting whatever gets swapped so we can make progress, right?” said Madsta, now a little better from his issue earlier.

  
  


“SEEMS LIKE IT!” said Papyrus. He waited for his brother's signal...

  
  


...

  
  


Sans finally beckoned them to follow and then they quickly scurried to the next hallway. The spot from where they were staying from earlier faded away and it seemed to be replaced with a similar-looking, yet different corridor.

  
  


“... Hey, I could hear voices from here.” Madsta looked like he perked up. The two skeletons decided to listen to his words and they stayed put, crouched low to the ground. There was a door not too far from them... maybe it came from there? “... Uh... hmm. Where could the voices have been coming from?”

  
  


The two skeletons seemed to have seen something from behind them and they decided to tap the red robot's shoulder. This caught Madsta's attention...

  
  


  
  
  


 

Mettaton, along with a tendril, was looking down at all three of them.

  
  


“So you not only are pathetically idiotic, but you are also sensibly impaired? I have no idea what qualities could possibly redeem you, darling.” said the pink robot as his arm shifted gears so that it could transform into an arm cannon.

  
  


“UGH! I can't believe they caught up to us!” Flowey groaned exasperatedly.

  
  


“Mettaton... where did you take Naps?!” Madsta snarled as he bolted up and readied for a fight. He looked as fierce as a tiger as his fangs bared with his apprehension.

  
  


“That crybaby? I was about to head to him til I saw you three. I knew I should have crushed your heart. Dismantling you didn't really do anything to you.” Mettaton sighed at this and then aimed his cannon at the three of them; although luckily, the three managed to evade just in time.

  
  


The red robot growled as he heard all this from the other robot. He can't believe that he would talk about his cousin just like that! He reached both arms to his back and drew knives; each knife tightly tucked between each of his fingers. He gnashed his teeth and growled lowly as he focused on the pink robot, and then he started to dart them at him. “Idiot. IDIOT. IDIOT!”

  
  


Mettaton evaded from them gracefully, but one of them seemed to have successfully darted into one of his wings. “Oh, I've been impaled.”

  
  


Sans and Papyrus decided to stand guard and study their fighting patterns; perhaps they can figure out a way to disable Mettaton. After all, they were both fighters and the older skeleton knew how to work with machines. Maybe they can find out exactly why Mettaton behaved like this.

  
  


They also stood guard since the flower tendril seemed to be on guard; as if it was ready to attack anytime.

  
  


“Darling, you can never win against me. Remember?” Mettaton gingerly grabbed his lower leg and then forcefully detached it and threw it at Madsta's face.

  
  


It made a loud CLANG and threw Madsta off-guard... he shook his head to get back in focus, but the other was too quick for him. He was pinned to the ground; this time, the tendril aided him and seemed to wrap itself around the red robot's wrists and legs.

  
  


“Should I rip him apart?” asked the sinister flower's voice.

  
  


“No, I wanna have fun with him like I did with his cousin.” Mettaton smirked and caressed Madsta's face. At the sound of the word “cousin”, the captive robot reacted.

  
  


“Shysta... where's Shysta?! What did you do with him?!” Madsta struggled against his restraints, feeling this situation all too familiar.

  
  


The two skeleton brothers looked like they were about to charge. Papyrus summoned his magical bones and then started hurling them at Flowey's tendril, while Sans collected himself and summoned his own magical bones and aimed them at Mettaton.

  
  


Flowey saw this, and then picked Madsta up and used him as a shield. It was too late for the brothers to withdraw some of their magic... they had hit Madsta. Thankfully it didn't hit him enough to be fatal, but just enough to cause a few dents in his body. The red robot groaned in pain.

  
  


“Guys...” Madsta groaned. “Shysta... find Shysta... please...”

  
  


“SANS!” Papyrus called out. “I'LL DISTRACT THEM. YOU GO FIND HIM! IF WE CAME ACROSS METTATON LIKE THIS, HE SHOULDN'T BE TOO FAR FROM HERE!”

  
  


He was right. There was no sign of Napstablook's vital signs anywhere; else, Madsta would have picked them up right away through his heightened senses. Shysta was probably just nearby and he had to find him... perhaps he could be a great help fending off their opponents. He decided to make a run for it while Papyrus fended off the two on his own.

  
  


The two opted to run after Sans, but Papyrus managed to keep them on their toes. He was far stronger than Mettaton and Flowey gave him credit for.

  
  


***

  
  


The corridors seemed to have shifted again for Sans, but he knew how to deal with them. They seemed to shift frantically, given that Flowey knew he was out to find the mint robot. He tried to find him in every room he came across since he couldn't find him via GPS given he had no signal in any given device.

  
  


Eventually, he came to this one room. He couldn't believe he eventually came across it with no real challenge... Shysta was left all alone, strapped down to a table. He rushed to him and shook him, seeing that his eyes were closed.

  
  


“Shysta. SHY! It's me, Sans. Wake up!” Sans shook him awake.

  
  


The robot seemed to have finally booted up. He slowly opened his eyes and recalibrated his senses to his surroundings. “Huh... Sans?”

  
  


“there we go. let's get you out of those straps and let's get out of here. your cousin needs your help.” Sans started to undo the straps, but his hands seemed to be zapped away by something. He hissed at this, feeling the burning sensation in his bony fingers, and then looked back at what could have caused it. He looked like he knew perfectly where...

  
  


“Son, I'm afraid I can't let you do what you're planning.” said Gaster. His arm was stretched out and his face looked stern as he seemed to glare directly at his son; it looked like he had spurted out some magical energy to swat his son's hands off the robot.

  
  


“Dad, what the heck are you planning?!” Sans looked like he was about to lose his cool, but he was hanging onto it. He stretched out his arm as well and then summoned a few magical bones by his side, since he had no blasters beside him to aid him. “And where are my blasters?”

  
  


“You have to listen to me, son. Let's not fight this. This whole thing... will be for everyone's betterment.” said Gaster calmly, but firmly. “This world is already full of lies and despair... why else would we need to live in it? Son... if we trust in this, we will renew the world, start anew, and make everything better for everyone.”

  
  


“And what exactly are we going to do for that to happen? You're going to help wipe out everyone on the face of the earth, aren't you?” the son growled. “I can't let that happen.”

  
  


“So you'd rather be discriminated the rest of your lives by those humans?”

  
  


“we have frisk! if a human like them exists, there must be more of them out there.”

  
  


“That's not what I was told.” Gaster growled. “Son, I don't want to do this. Please stand down... please.”

  
  


Sans didn't stand down. Hearing this only made it worse. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, one of his pupils had dimmed down and his left eye had started glowing blue. He started to grin; that infamous grin of his that everybody identifies him with... and summoned his magical bones close.

  
  


He can win this, he thought, even without those blasters by his side.

  
  


Before he could raise his hand to make his father float off the ground, his father beat him right to it. He was lifted off the ground and thrown far away from the robot, and then had dark magical bones hurled coming his way. He was luckily able to evade all this and then he reprised with his glowing blue magical bones. He wasn't gonna just stand there and get hit.

  
  


Gaster frowned at this and snapped his fingers. Two blasters floated by his side and started to blast away at his son. His face looked serious, and yet there seemed to be a hidden pain inside it all. He didn't want his son to see it, though.

  
  


The skeleton in the blue hoodie was quite slippery. He was about to run to his father when the two blasters got in his way and aimed at him, but he was able to evade. He was able to run fast enough so he can slide just below them on his back. Thanks to this position however, he was able to grab tightly onto one of them.

  
  


The blaster that was held panicked and flew haphazardly.

  
  


“Sans, get down from there!” called out Gaster.

  
  


“no way, dad!”

  
  


...

  
  


A flashback just ran through Sans' head...

  
  


***

  
  


He remembered he did something similar back then in his youth. He was only a young boy skeleton when his father used to take him to the royal laboratory for his job. That was where he got accustomed to, and that was his playground while his dad went off to work.

  
  


He was always a naughty little boy, though. Once, he tried to sneak up on a blaster of his dad's while it was sleeping... it was only a little pup back then. When he got hold of it, it was stronger than he anticipated it to be and it lifted him right off the ground! Eventually, Gaster found out about this when he saw his boy near the ceiling with a panicking blaster...

  
  


“Sans, get down from there!” Gaster cried out worriedly. He stood just below the two and feared for the worst.

  
  


“daddyyyyy i can't!” Sans cried, obviously both scared and thrilled this was all happening. He felt thrilled that he was finally flying, but he felt scared because he didn't know how to get down.

  
  


“Sans... just let go! Trust me, I'll catch you!”

  
  


“daddy what if you don't?!”

  
  


“Just trust me.”

  
  


Gaster opened his arms wide and waited for Sans to let go of the panicking blaster. He looked nervous, but DETERMINED to catch his son. The son closed his eyes tightly, and loosened his grip on the blaster. He had let go... he screamed as he fell, but Gaster saw the trajectory of the fall just well and caught him just in time!

  
  


“Are you okay, Sans? Are you hurt?” Gaster, horribly worried, set his son on his feet and dusted him while checking for any injuries.

  
  


“i'm okay dad! because i listened to you and trusted you!” Sans beamed brightly, and then started to run off again for one of his shenanigans around the lab.

  
  


Gaster could only sigh at this and he returned to his work...

  
  


***

  
  


“...” Sans looked down as he stared as his father. His arms were wide open again...

  
  


He felt a pang in his chest seeing that he could no longer do what he could anymore, but passed it off as indifference. He felt pained that he felt he could no longer trust this man he once called father... what happened, and why is he acting like this? Is this all to haunt what he had done in the past? But no... that's not what Gaster said... but of course, he couldn't expect him to just say it out loud, right? This must be punishment for his misbehaviour all those years ago...

  
  


“no, dad. i'm not coming down!” he called out and then he eventually jumped and rode up on top of the blaster. “shhh... hey, buster. it's me. calm down alright? i don't know what dad did to you but... but calm down. it's just me. it's sans.”

  
  


The blaster seemed to have calmed down a little since then and then started to settle down. Both he and the blaster looked down at the other blaster and Gaster.

  
  


“... Very well.” Gaster took a deep breath, crossed his arms, and then spread them even wider. The holes in his hands seemed even larger now, and he seemed to radiate of dark aura.

  
  


Sans looked worried, not for himself but for Shysta, who was strapped down on the table helplessly while all this was happening. He could get hurt. He decided to aim for him and use his blaster to blast the straps away. He jumped off the blaster and finally set his feet on the ground.

  
  


“Shy, get away from here. Your cousin and my brother are somewhere out there... you have to find them. They're fighting Flowey and Mettaton!” Sans said as he stood on guard with his blaster by his side.

  
  


Shysta nodded at this and then ran away from the site. Gaster simply watched him run away and then he turned back to his son, his arms still stretched wide as he became more enveloped in dark aura. He didn't look like he was there to embrace his son any longer.

  
  


The blue skeleton frowned and then stood guard for whatever could come at him.

  
  


***

  
  


Meanwhile... Papyrus was able to get Madsta back, although the both of them were already weak back then. He panted and had Madsta's arm around his neck so that he could assist the weak robot... the poor thing had already taken too much damage both from Flowey and Papyrus' few accidental attacks. Flowey saw to it that he had a 90% chance of hitting the robot, and so no matter how careful he was, he couldn't seem to completely avoid hitting him...

  
  


“I'M SORRY, MADS... I TRIED MY BEST...” said Papyrus apologetically.

  
  


“It's okay. Thanks for saving me... I wish I could help you.” Madsta groaned at this.

  
  


Both of them were facing Mettaton and Flowey, who stood side by side. Flowey didn't look tired, and Mettaton looked unscratched for the most part.

  
  


“Papyrus, your father would love to see you. Your idiot brother has probably met him and is stubborn once more to just accept things.” Mettaton frowned. “You're more sensible, aren't you?”

  
  


He landed on the ground and gingerly trotted over to Papyrus. Madsta couldn't react much given his condition, and Papyrus seemed to be frozen in place... he had always admired the diva. The way he was so beautiful, with charms and talent to match. He was also nicer than he's letting on, but... what happened?

  
  


“METTATON...” he called out, barely above a whisper. Was this the idol he had always admired...?

  
  


That was when Mettaton felt a lash land on his back... he turned around and found that it was none other than the mint robot who had finally caught up to them.

  
  


“Hey.” Shysta smirked and then he looked at Mettaton. “Let's get a room.”

  
  


“...” Mettaton looked like he had a faint blush as his eyes widened, and then he smirked mischievously. “Flowey, kindly take care of these fools while I take care of this idiot.”

  
  


“Roger that.” Flowey seemed disgusted and then his tendril started to be active for battle once more.

  
  


Shysta and Mettaton started walking off through one of the cold hallways.

  
  


“That... horny bastard... looking for a room in this situation?!” Madsta growled and then shook himself off Papyrus' grip. He seemed to have a little more energy left... and that's when it hit him. He looked at the tendril closely and looked at Papyrus... “Pap, what if... what if we ride that thing? Do you think we can eventually reach Naps that way? I mean... this thing must be connected to something somewhere. Earlier today, Naps and I were played around with something similar... like a plant tissue.”

  
  


“... WE COULD GIVE IT A SHOT!” said Papyrus as he snapped his fingers. “WE'VE GOT NOTHING TO LOSE!”

  
  


“Yeah...” Madsta seemed to gather all of his strength and then he latched onto the tendril, and so did Papyrus.

  
  


The tendril seemed to FREAK OUT upon the impact of the two and then it started retracting itself.

  
  


“GET OFF ME!!” cried the Flower's voice as it retracted its vines and tendrils. Both of them only hung on tight as the vines slipped through the cracks.

  
  


They thought it would hurt but... apparently they seemed to just phase through the walls and ceilings that they passed through. They had no idea what was going on, but they went along with it anyway. They had to save Napstablook! They started to feel dizzy after getting dragged around as they held on the thick vine tightly...

  
  


Until something caught Madsta's eye.

  
  


“N-Naps!” he cried out and alerted Papyrus. He saw Naps bound in vines as he was forced to lie down on the ground. Both of them opted to jump for it and then rolled on the ground to break the fall.

  
  


They both rushed to Napstablook as soon as they could stand up and then they examined how they could possibly free him from such a predicament. His arms were bound tightly behind him as vines wrapped themselves around his torso, and his legs were tightly tied up with the same vines. They seemed to hold him down firmly in place... his eyes were covered by a blindfold, possibly so that he was completely incapable of doing anything, since his tears seemed to be a weapon on their own. A vine seemed to wrap itself around Naps' face as well, just around his mouth so it acted as a gag.

  
  


“Naps... Naps, can you hear us? We're getting you out!” said Madsta as he grabbed a few of his weapons and handed them to Papyrus. He gave him a sword, while he grabbed his own trusty knife to try and cut him free. He tried to move the vine that gagged the poor blue robot so he could at least see if the robot was conscious and able to talk.

  
  


“... Maddie...” sobbed the robot a few moments after the gag was off. “Maddie, I'm scared...”

  
  


“Shh... we're here for you. You'll be out of there, I promise.” said Madsta and then he urged Papyrus to take the blindfold off. Maybe it'll help melt the vines away.

  
  


They were starting to get him free; they worked on his arms first. The tears did help melt the vines away as they burned and cut the vines off of him.

  
  


“You know, that kinda hurts.” said a voice not too far from where they were. It alarmed all of them, so that Madsta had to work double time freeing the robot. It was the same voice they had heard from the tendril...

  
  


There was a monitor that came out from the darkness and it started to flicker, as if it had just turned itself on. On it was a face... an ominous face that stared down at them.

  
  


“... YOU KNOW, I JUST REALISED IT NOW BUT I THINK I REMEMBER THAT VOICE FROM SOMEWHERE... I THINK IT USED TO BE AN ECHO FLOWER!” Papyrus said. “DO ECHO FLOWERS TURN OUT LIKE THAT?”

  
  


“...” Madsta looked up at the face looming over them in apparent fear. This must be where the creature controlling all those vines and plant tissues was based... they had to hurry.

  
  


It looked like it was the start of something bad for them... now that they were all dispersed with their own opponents.

  
  


Sans was left fighting his own father in one of the rooms; which seemed to be Gaster's main laboratory, given the wide scope of it and the fact that he was going to work on Shysta there. Shysta was left with Mettaton in a fighting room where they were presumably going to fight til death, and Madsta was left with Papyrus to save Napstablook from... Flowey.

  
  


It seems that the three had gotten together and joined forces... but for what cause?


	22. Bodyguard

###  **Chapter 22: Bodyguard**

  
  


“SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-”

  
  


Madsta chopped the vines holding Napstablook with one of his larger knives in store at full force. He grabbed the blue robot hastily in his arms and scampered off, with Papyrus tagging along. They left just in time; one of Flowey's vines had just smashed the spot where they use to be!

  
  


“YOU RED IDIOT, THAT HURT!!!!!!!”

  
  


Flowey screamed in pain after getting one of his tendrils chopped off like that, but he soon recovered. He decided to play around with his prey, much like a cat.... so he decided to purr playfully as the others ran for their lives.

  
  


“Meow~ run run as fast as you can, little mice... idiot mice... I'm getting you~”

  
  


“THAT'S THE UGLIEST CAT I'VE EVER SEEN!” screamed Madsta. Upon feeling that Flowey was even more angered by this, he screamed at the top of his lungs. “PAKSHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET”

  
  


They were running out of ideas... Flowey was technically omnipresent in the vicinity they were held. What were they to do to get themselves out of this? The giant showed pain when their tendrils were chopped off... but how can they be so sure they don't regenerate... or multiply, like the Hydra in one of those human mythologies? They had to think of something...

  
  


They all went to a relatively safe spot where the tendrils couldn't reach; somewhere below a broken cupboard that the flower had wrecked presumably just a few moments ago when it was attacked.

  
  


“Everyone alright?” Madsta crouched low enough so that even a tall robot like him could fit under the space.

  
  


“Y-Yes...” Blooky sobbed as he looked at his companions. “Madsta... Papyrus... thanks for saving me...”

  
  


“THAT'S OKAY! DIDN'T I TELL YOU THAT I'M YOUR BODYGUARD? I'D GO AGAINST ALL ODDS FOR YOU! AND MADSTA IS TOO, RIGHT?”

  
  


“That's right.” Madsta nodded. He looked apprehensive, but it seems like the flower hasn't found them yet in their hiding spot, nor could it reach them should they be found... “We couldn't stay here forever... we need to think of a plan.”

  
  


“I don't know if we're getting out of here alive...” cried the blue robot. “I'm so sorry this all happened... t-that email... that email was meant for me... if I only deleted that email, Pinky wouldn't have gotten the virus and this wouldn't have happened and...”

  
  


“HEY, IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!” Papyrus patted his shoulder. He urged Madsta to let Napstablook be between the both of them, so that they could shield him when something happens. “THIS WAS NOBODY'S FAULT... NOBODY BUT... THEM, OUTSIDE I GUESS! BUT NOT YOURS, NOT ANY OF OURS! NOT METTATON'S! NOT ANYONE'S!”

  
  


“And besides... nothing will come out of blaming ourselves right now. I... I should know.” Madsta looked like he was guilty of something. “But... Napstablook, you're right. I'm not sure if we'll all get out of here alive, but I'll make sure that you get out of here safely. You're all that matters right now... I know you can make a difference for everyone.”

  
  


“Madsta...”

  
  


“I've always wanted to tell you, and I was horrified when we were separated earlier... I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Napstablook, for everything... I'm so sorry...”

  
  


The tiger-like robot started to shift his emotions from apprehension to guilt, and then he started to bawl his eyes out as he profusely apologised to the blue robot beside him. He felt so horrible after the way he had treated the blue robot earlier, and perhaps all the events prior.

  
  


Nobody was going to give him space for tears. The cupboard shook and they all hugged each other as reflex...

  
  


“I know you're all in here somewhere~”

  
  


“G-Guys...” Madsta said in a shaky whisper, tears still streaming down his face.

  
  


“WE HAVE TO GO... ON THE COUNT OF THREE, WE ALL HAVE TO RUN. ALRIGHT?” Papyrus nodded worriedly at them. “ONE... TWO... THREE!”

  
  


They all bolted out of the broken cupboard. Napstablook seemed to run the fastest, but due to being tied for a time, his joints seemed a little stuck up so he eventually slowed down... perhaps it was what Flowey had done, as per magic. Monsters still relied on technology and magic, the way they did back in the Underground...

  
  


Madsta grabbed Napstablook in his arms and made sure that he held on tightly. Papyrus ran by their side and prepared an attack, should there be anything to ambush them.

  
  


This was pathetic... all they did was run around in fear, hoping the flower didn't catch any of them. How were they not able to find the exit in this huge, but confined room? Perhaps Flowey was manipulating that, too... so that they can never exit this nightmare.

  
  


“I'm your worst nightmare.” Flowey said, and then let out a wicked cackle before trying to charge at them again. They learned evasion from Frisk, so they were able to evade the attacks.

  
  


Papyrus managed to see another safe spot for them to hide in... it looked like another worn down cupboard. He urged the two to hide under it and then Napstablook didn't forget to operate his holographic shield this time to protect all of them.

  
  


“HAH... THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE. GUYS, THIS MAY SOUND WEIRD BUT... I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THAT FLOWER. AND IT'S BEEN LOOKING BACK AT ME TOO...” Papyrus said. “HE LOOKS FAMILIAR...”

  
  


“Familiar? Have you... have you seen this before?”

  
  


“NO, I MEAN... THE WAY HE LOOKED AT ME WAS FAMILIAR. DON'T YOU GUYS FEEL IT TOO?”

  
  


“Umm...” Napstablook shook his head. “I'm sorry...”

  
  


“Nope.” Madsta shook his head as well.

  
  


“...” Papyrus peeked out cautiously, seeing that the flower had just rested for a while. He looked back at the other two again and then he crouched low. “OKAY... SO... UH... THERE'S SOMETHING I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU GUYS. I WASN'T TOO YOUNG NOT TO REMEMBER ANYTHING. IN FACT... THE MORE SANS TRIED TO HIDE THE TRUTH FROM ME, THE MORE I LEARNED ABOUT IT ON MY OWN. I WAS ONLY PRETENDING NOT TO CARE ABOUT THINGS FOR HIS SAKE...”

  
  


The blue robot made sure that his shield stayed strong and then they all huddled up closer just in case. Madsta and Papyrus made sure the blue robot was between them again, just to make sure that he's well-protected.

  
  


“OKAY... SO I HAVEN'T TOLD YOU THAT... THAT GUY WAS OUR DAD, RIGHT? NOT THAT FLOWER... THAT GUY WHO... KIDNAPPED MADSTA'S CLAN.”

  
  


“What...?” Napstablook seemed shocked, but Madsta knew about this as they had talked about it briefly earlier. “B-But why...”

  
  


“WE DON'T KNOW EITHER... SANS PROBABLY RAN INTO HIM BY NOW SINCE WE SAW SHYSTA EARLIER. IF I KNEW SANS ANY BETTER, HE SAVED SHYSTA FROM SOMETHING AND THEN WENT TO FACE SOMETHING ELSE ON HIS OWN... I WISH HE DIDN'T, SO WE WOULD ALL STILL BE TOGETHER...”

  
  


Papyrus looked a little sad. It was a little devastating to see someone who can smile through everything look like this...

  
  


“BUT ANYWAY!” Papyrus noticed the two feeling sad and decided to speak. “SO I WASN'T COMPLETELY CLUELESS. GUYS... I REMEMBER THAT SANS AND I LIVED ALONE...”

  
  


Papyrus sounded like he was telling the last story of his life with some of the people he grew to trust immensely. He didn't want to say it, but he wasn't sure either if they were all getting out of here alive, and so he wanted to at least share his part of the story with someone who mattered to him. After all, everyone hid everything from him... it was high time he also opened up, as he was hiding some things on his own.

  
  


***

  
  


“That's a good Papyrus!”

  
  


A tiny skeleton toddler was lifted up in the air happily by an older male skeleton. He was cooing in joy, as he loved the older skeleton playing with him. They seemed to be in a nursery, along with other monster kids of all species; there were cat monsters, dog monsters...

  
  


“Gaster! I thought I'd find you here. The lizard couple told me you weren't in the lab.”

  
  


It was none other than the king of the Underground himself, King Asgore. He walked in, his kind, bright eyes looking at the doctor warmly.

  
  


“Your kid seems to be having fun with their kid, though.” Asgore added. He seemed to be holding someone's hand... someone... small.

  
  


“They seem really close. The feeling of kids running around in the lab... it feels invigorating. It reminds me that there's more to life than working!” Gaster chuckled, and then he caught Asgore holding hands with... a little child. He grinned. “Hey, is that Asriel??”

  
  


“Yep! That's my boy!” Asgore laughed in pride. “He's grown to be a little shy though, so I'm dragging him in here for a while to meet other kids.”

  
  


“The last time I saw him, he was a little toddler...” Gaster smiled. “You know, Asriel... you're so lucky you look like your mom!”

  
  


“Hey!”

  
  


The dads laughed to themselves. Papyrus crawled around the nursery to meet other kids on his own; Asriel seemed much older than he was though the latter was still a kid. He crawled around to meet fellow toddlers...

  
  


“(Hey! Watch it, I was building that!)”

  
  


A toddler seemed to growl at him when he accidentally knocked over a set of blocks. The fellow toddler seemed to speak in gibberish though, so the adults weren't able to understand.

  
  


“(I-I'M SORRY...)” Papyrus gurgled back.

  
  


“(What do you mean 'sorry'?! That took me a long time to build!)” said the older toddler.

  
  


“Hey! Don't pick on him like that!”

  
  


Another kid came into view... she seemed older than they were, but she seemed to know how to speak their gibberish. She walked over to them, having full control of her legs unlike some of the kids in the nursery.

  
  


“If you pick on him again...” the girl cracked her knuckles and looked at the other kid with intimidating eyes. This sent the toddler crying that they couldn't work on the blocks anymore...

  
  


“Undyne!” Asgore called out and then he dragged her away.

  
  


“But Asgore... they were picking on him!” she pointed at the baby skeleton Papyrus. “I couldn't just let them do that!”

  
  


Papyrus tried to explain that he knocked over the kid's blocks, so he was at fault. But the adults couldn't understand gibberish, so... Undyne translated it for him. He started to cry too, seeing that he caused such an uproar in the nursery.

  
  


“Shhh...” Gaster picked Papyrus up gently and rocked him a little bit to calm him down. “Undyne, is it? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?”

  
  


“I have no classes today! School declared a holiday yesterday, so I decided to walk around the town for a while!”

  
  


Asgore chuckled. “She's usually here. She'd usually ask me to teach her how to wield a sword, and wouldn't budge if I told her to leave...”

  
  


“You're laughing now, but someday you'll see! I'll be the head of the royal guards guarding your A-”

  
  


Asgore hastily covered Undyne's mouth, alarmed that there are children about and he didn't want them to hear her speak. “If you let Papyrus hear you talk like that, then our deal is off! I'm not teaching you swordfight for a week!”

  
  


Undyne broke free and growled. “Fine! But we still have a lesson later!”

  
  


Asriel seemed a little scared at this. He was older than the both of them, but he felt intimidated by the fish kid's spunk...

  
  


“Asriel.”

  
  


Someone called out on him from behind them. It made him happy and then he just smiled, presumably in relief. He ran away from them to meet the voice.

  
  


“Chara!” he giggled and then met up with the other kid.

  
  


“Hey, alright. You and Chara go out and have fun!” said Asgore. The two left, leaving the two fathers and the other kids in the nursery.

  
  


“Chara... how had they been?” Gaster asked as he slowly let Papyrus down to play with Undyne. “They were the first human to fall here in ages. And they seem to be going pretty well with your son.”

  
  


“They're fine.” the kind king smiled at this. “Asriel is very shy, but he and Chara get along like peanut butter and jelly! Chara is shy too so... it's good that they found companionship in each other. Someday, Asriel will be the king, and Chara will be right there by his side. They will rule together...”

  
  


“I'm excited!” said Undyne as she tried to carry Papyrus. “I know they'll help us be free again! And I'll finally be able to see the sun!”

  
  


“I know that maybe by now, they're still not ready for such a feat... but someday! When my son rules this place, it is in his reign that we'll all be free!” Asgore sounded very confident. Gaster was a little concerned with how confident he was, but happy that there was hope for them.

  
  


“Well... I'd better go get back to work.” Gaster realised he had been away from the lab for too long. I'd better go help Al and Phy. They could be having problems with both the experiments AND the kids without my help!”

  
  


The adults laughed to each other and bade farewell as they had to attend their duties.

  
  


“Undyne, please take care of Papyrus here while I'm gone! Just don't go too far, okay?” the skeleton scientist instructed, seeing that the kid looked like a good protector.

  
  


“Leave him to me, Mr. Scientist!” she saluted and then started to play with Papyrus.

  
  


***

  
  


“So that's how you and Undyne met? Wow...” Madsta seemed to crack a small grin at this. For once, he didn't have memory loss and actually remembers Undyne. “I met her as a dummy. But uh... call me stupid, but who's Asriel again?”

  
  


“Asriel... that name sounds familiar... you say he's the King's son, right? But... oh... OH! Okay, now I remember! You really met him up close, Papyrus?” Napstablook seemed surprised. “It was rather sad how he went down, though...”

  
  


“YEAH...” Papyrus looked sad as well. “I'M SAD HE HAD TO GO THAT WAY, BUT... I'M ALSO HAPPY THAT WAS THE CHANCE I GOT TO MEET UNDYNE. THAT WAS ALSO THE ONLY TIME I GOT TO SEE THEM UP CLOSE... PRINCE ASRIEL AND THE HUMAN DIDN'T SEEM SO FOND OF INTERACTING WITH OTHERS BUT THEMSELVES, YOU SEE...”

  
  


“Oh... it's a shame...” the blue robot seemed sad.

  
  


“SO I STILL REMEMBER ALL THAT, AND I ALSO REMEMBER... BUT VERY VAGUELY... THAT THERE WAS A TIME THAT I SAW SANS CRY...”

  
  


“Sans crying?” Madsta didn't look like he could believe it completely.

  
  


“YEAH! BUT I COULDN'T REMEMBER MUCH... AND AFTER HE CRIED LIKE THAT, THAT WAS WHEN I NOTICED THAT DAD WASN'T WITH US ANYMORE. I NEVER KNEW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED BUT...”

  
  


“...?” the two ghost-robots listened to him intently.

  
  


“SOMETIMES I COULD SEE HIM GO DOWN OUR BASEMENT. I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE LOVED SPENDING TIME WITH HIMSELF TO DRAW, WHENEVER HE SAW THAT UNDYNE AND I WERE HANGING OUT. I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE LOVED ARTS!”

  
  


“...” Madsta couldn't think of a good reply for this, but he felt that there was more to this than what Papyrus thought it was.

  
  


“Guys!” Napstablook cried. The cupboard was shaking again, and it seems they had to run for their lives again...

  
  


They all darted out of the cupboard before it was destroyed by the lashing of the gigantic flower, followed by a wicked cackle. They were getting tired of this... always having to run away for their lives for fear the flower would destroy them... they wished they could find a way out of all of this, and still be together.

  
  


A tendril was about to smash on them, when something seemed to block it.

  
  


They flinched out of reflex, but they all slowly opened their eyes. They found out... that someone had blocked the tendril. It was somebody in a hood. The hooded person turned to them and then the red robot screamed.

  
  


The hooded person looked so much like the person who gave him the scar... he presumed it was Gaster who had given him the scar, based on Sans and Papyrus' stories. Madsta was frozen in fear seeing the hooded figure that the blue robot had to calm him down.

  
  


Papyrus was left staring at the hooded figure though... before the figure disappeared. It looked like it was only a momentary vision. Were they all imagining it? But no...

  
  


No, they weren't. The figure was all too real, even for just a moment.

  
  


Who was that?

  
  


He felt something about it...

  
  


“NAPSTABLOOK. I TOLD YOU THAT I WAS YOUR BODYGUARD, RIGHT? AND THAT I WILL DO EVERYTHING TO PROTECT YOU, TO HONOUR METTATON.”

  
  


“... Papyrus... w-wait... Papyrus, what...?”

  
  


“MADSTA, THERE'S AN OPENING THAT HOODED FIGURE MADE.” Papyrus pointed to a faraway exit. “BUT IT'S STARTING TO CLOSE! YOU HAVE TO TAKE NAPSTABLOOK WITH YOU!”

  
  


“B-But... hey, but what about you?!” Madsta sounded defensive. “Papyrus, we're not leaving without you!”

  
  


“Papyrus, please... we're staying together!” cried Napstablook. He couldn't stand to hear this...

  
  


“JUST GO!!” Papyrus sounded insistent and forceful for once, that he summoned a bone to usher them away from him. He called the giant flower's attention and ran around the place to distract it, while the two were ushered considerably far from him.

  
  


“PAPYRUS!!” the two ghost-robots screamed and opted to reach out for him, but the hooded figure from before appeared before them and, with a magical force, blasted them away and into the exit.

 

 

 

 

The last they could see was that Papyrus was getting chased by the flower's gigantic tendril... and it looked like it smashed on him. The hooded figure seemed to glide through the air towards both the flower and the skeleton before it disappeared.

  
  


The two were left in disbelief. The exit had closed, and there was not a trace of it. Napstablook felt his legs quiver, and then he knelt down on the cold floor as he just stared at where the exit used to be. Madsta growled at this after regaining much composure and then he started to punch repeatedly on the wall where they exited.

  
  


“PAPYRUS! PAPYRUS!!!” he screamed out. “Papyrus... PAPYRUS, we're coming for you!”

  
  


He continued to punch the wall, but he was getting nowhere. He started to gradually slow down and just slid down the wall to kneel and cry. “Papyrus...”

  
  


The two were left alone, without the jolly skeleton by their side. They didn't know what to do; they were incapacitated by sorrow for some time...

  
  


… before Madsta decided to stand up and help Napstablook on his feet. His eyes looked like they were full of DETERMINATION.

  
  


“Naps... we can't just sit around here. If... if Papyrus died for us, then we shouldn't let his death be in vain. We should go... let's find Shysta... and Sans... and my family... and... Mettaton. It might not be too late for Mettaton; I've seen him earlier but he went with my cousin.”

  
  


Napstablook looked up at him and nodded. He shakily got up with the red robot's help. “You're right... P-Papyrus... I couldn't imagine he'd literally go against all odds for me... and those were his last words, too...”

  
  


“...” Madsta looked like he wanted to cry again, but this time he held the blue robot's hand. This was so that they can't be pulled apart again, since for now they only had each other. “Let's go. Let's protect each other, okay?”

  
  


He felt that Napstablook didn't feel too good with people always wanting to risk their lives to protect him, so he felt that protecting each other was the one thing he needed to hear at this moment.

  
  


The place seemed to shift less... Papyrus' sacrifice must have done a lot for them, as the flower didn't seem to shift the places so much anymore. They could walk through the maze without much of a problem...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a little short... but I loved having to write a little about Papyrus' point of view and his childhood! Undyne is definitely a good friend to have. ♥ and the hooded person... who could it have been?


	23. I Have Waited...

###  **Chapter 23: I Have Waited...**

  
  


“...”

  
  


“What's wrong, darling?”

  
  


“Nothing, I thought I felt something.”

  
  


Shysta was standing in front of the pink robot. They both held no weapons as they stood in a relatively empty, glossy-tiled room with a few equipment and laboratory shelves sitting around the walls of the wide space.

  
  


“Well, now we have ourselves a room just like you wanted.” Mettaton giggled and then he strutted over to the mint robot. He put his hand on his face again and then caressed it. “Ah... you are such a good-looking darling. I have to praise Sans' workmanship here.”

  
  


“Mettaton. You must have known why I wanted you all alone.”

  
  


“Is it the same reason I want you all alone?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Shysta only chuckled at this and then he pulled Mettaton closer by the waist. He looked down at his eyes, almost hypnotizingly. His calm, cool, beautiful eyes of different hues looked down at his fiery red ones and then he slowly leaned down closer to his face. Mettaton followed suit and wrapped his arms around the taller robot's neck.

  
  


“Mettaton, you are so adorable.”

  
  


“I know, darling. And you are so handsome...”

  
  


They slowly closed their eyes as they neared each other's faces even more.

  
  


“But not as handsome as when we reprogram you.”

  
  


Mettaton grabbed a knife he drew from his back and sought to stab Shysta's nape, but Shysta was quick.

  
  


“I dare you to do that. I dare you to... if I don't rupture your oil vein there.” said Shysta as he grabbed an oil vein from Mettaton's exposed back. It was exposed, since Mettaton had just drawn his weapon from there. The vein from his back seemed rather thick, and so if Shysta pulled it roughly right there... it could mean trouble.

  
  


The pink robot looked a little tense, as they both held their pose. Shysta's beautiful eyes were now icy cold once more.

  
  


“You're as smart as you are good-looking, darling.” Mettaton teased him a little and played with his long, luscious locks. “Very well. Perhaps we should start our fight more... fairly.”

  
  


They slowly backed from each other away, and withdrew their offensive stances. They looked at each other after backing a fair distance and nodded.

  
  


“Battle conditions?” asked Shysta.

  
  


“If I win, I do whatever the hell I want to do with you.” Mettaton smirked evilly. “That includes reprogramming you to be on our side... heehee.”

  
  


“Fine. If I win, you're mine.” Shysta pointed at him. “I'll do whatever the hell I want to do with you, too. And that means getting you back on our side.”

  
  


The pink robot shrugged. “Sounds fair. Though to be quite honest, I'd like to kill you too if I could.”

  
  


“Try me.”

  
  


The mint robot nodded and then they stared at each other for a while before they readied their battle stances for real.

  
  


There started a battle between a Blook and a Spook. Who would win? What would happen in this duel between the two representatives of the ghost clans?

  
  


Only one way to find out. They started their battle, with Mettaton lunging for the first attack. He gained enough speed to perform a butterfly kick; this was so that he could gather enough momentum to attack him with an offensive jumping kick. After that, it was one roundhouse kick after the other, as Mettaton tried to break through Shysta's guard.

  
  


Shysta managed to catch one of his legs though and pulled it. He somewhat forced Mettaton's leg to stretch a little further as he jumped overhead and spun him around, and then he performed a sweeping kick to catch the pink robot off guard.

  
  


Mettaton grunted at this as he got up once more and prepared a more defensive stance; he found that Shysta seemed to know how to counter well.

  
  


Seeing that the shorter pink robot wouldn't make any first attacks, Shysta decided to cautiously circle around him, as if to study him and to keep track of his own footing in battle. He decided to make a feign stance, to alarm the other and catch him off-guard, and that was when he grabbed him.

  
  


He took him, as if he was offering to dance with him; but in reality he did a tango dip with him and then threw him away. This was so that he could further attack him in a defenseless state to render him immobile. The pink robot seemed to have seen this coming. He bounced off the ground with his hands and landed on his feet, so he wouldn't be left helpless on the ground.

  
  


“Not bad, darling.” Mettaton smirked at him and stood a fair distance from him.

  
  


“Care to explain why this is all happening?” Shysta frowned at him.

  
  


“Well, you see, this is all due to a scientific process that only Dr. Gaster thought of, and-”

  
  


“Why is Gaster doing all this?”

  
  


“Darling, we're not alone. They're watching us.”

  
  


Mettaton left an ominous note in his last sentence, as he just gave Shysta a suspicious smile. Shysta felt wary of this and cautiously readied a battle stance once more, not getting his eyes off his opponent. “Who's watching us?”

  
  


“Them.”

  
  


“Who's them?”

  
  


“Darling, care to tell me how you got here in the first place?”

  
  


Shysta tried to recall it, but he couldn't completely remember everything as... none of this actually made sense! To him, this seemed like a space-time continuum conflict... the way everything shifted, the way everything suddenly just fell apart... the way that Mettaton is now his enemy. None of this made sense to him, and it indeed frustrated him as a man of logic.

  
  


“I have no idea, but I'm here to save my family. And you, if you're willing to be saved.”

  
  


“Saved from what?” Mettaton raised a brow at this.

  
  


“...” Shysta's face looked a little mellowed down, but he still looked like he was on guard. “... Friendstablook, don't you really remember anything?”

  
  


“...” Mettaton squinted his eyes at him, feeling a little alarmed. “What... what did you call me?”

  
  


“Friendstablook.” Shysta stepped forward. “This is not who you are. I-I know you're somewhere in there. Please...”

  
  


“I don't even know you!!” the pink robot said in defence as he stepped back. He felt a little scared, if he could be honest with his feelings right now. It showed in his flickering red eyes.

  
  


The green robot stopped stepping forward and he just stood there, gazing at the fearful robot with actual emotion in his seemingly-emotionless eyes. Shysta actually looked a little sad.

  
  


“I understand if you don't remember me. I don't expect you to... but Friendsta, I want to save you.” Shysta replied, in his mellow tone. “You don't deserve any of this. You deserve happiness... you have helped so many people, including me.”

  
  


Mettaton backed to the wall and grasped his head; he looked like he was hurting. Yes, he was... he let out a cry of pain as it looked like he had a throbbing headache just now. Shysta could do nothing but watch him in pain, lest he do something to make it worse.

  
  


“S-Shy... Shysta...” Mettaton cried out weakly as he fell to his knees, due to so much pain.

  
  


“...” Shysta cautiously stepped forward and knelt down in front of him. “Friendsta, are you... are you okay?”

  
  


“No... Shysta...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


“I-I... I think... I think I remember everything...”

  
  


Mettaton's voice glitched out as tears filled his flickering red eyes. He looked up at the green robot; his eyes looking sincere and vulnerable for once. The green robot looked relieved, but concerned... looking into these eyes also made him remember everything.

  
  


***

  
  


“Now isn't it great that you're finally spending time with your family and my family?”

  
  


“I saw better.”

  
  


There was a gasp of disbelief, from none other than a cute pink ghost who just frowned at their companion green ghost. They had just dragged them from the gushing waterfall area to the Blook-Spook reunion area proper, only to hear an antipathetic response from the other ghost.

  
  


“Why, I never! Blooky is socially awkward, but not rude!”

  
  


“Who the hell is Blooky?”

  
  


“GASP!” the pink ghost said out loud. “Now you take that back about Blooky!”

  
  


“Chill, pinky. I was just asking you since I have no idea who you're talking about.”

  
  


“First and foremost, remember this! Only Blooky can call me by that nickname.” the pink ghost frowned at him and pointed a ghost nub at him. “And second, my name is Friendsta! Friendstablook. And your name is?”

  
  


“My name is Shysta, and you still hadn't told me who Blooky is.” Shysta shrugged at this.

  
  


“Blooky is my cousin! The sweetest, dearest, most talented musical cousin you'll ever know!”

  
  


“Uh... musical?”

  
  


“They compose music, darling.” Friendsta smiled at this, feeling proud as they talked about the music-loving Blook. “Whenever they're alone... which is most of the time, when I'm not around, they make music! And they do make the best music!”

  
  


“Oh. Well... that's great, I guess.”

  
  


“Is that all you can say?”

  
  


As Shysta floated away, Friendsta seemed to tag along. They were heading for the entrance of the Waterfall again... but the pink ghost blocked them.

  
  


“Friendsta, we're ghosts. I can easily phase through you.” Shysta said as-a-matter-of-factly.

  
  


“That's right, leave! See if I care!”

  
  


“Uh, yeah...? That's what I'm doing right now?”

  
  


Friendsta growled a little. “What fun do you see in being so alone, anyway??”

  
  


“What fun do YOU see in nosing around other peoples' businesses??” Shysta retaliated with a strong face, but... he soon started to feel a little mellowed down.

  
  


“...” the pink ghost looked offended. They scoffed as they looked a little like they wanted to cry, and then started to float away.

  
  


The green ghost didn't know what to do and just watched all this happen... they watched as the other ghost floated away to the crowd to the point they can barely see them anymore. For some reason, they felt a little guilty raising their tone like that to the Blook. Even if they HAD been rather annoying and nosy... they thought that it was the first time someone actually tried to show them some acknowledgement. Acknowledgement that they existed.

  
  


They decided to float back and look around the reunion.

  
  


There were a great many ghosts, both from the Spook Clan and the Blook Clan alike. Everyone looked like they were having a great time as they shared different stories and experiences. From the looks of it, Blooks seemed more reserved in general and Spooks looked a bit more... unorthodox, as people would call it. But no matter the difference, the two clans seemed to know how to have a fun time with each other.

  
  


Now if he could only find the one particular Blook he was looking for...

  
  


“Gotcha!”

  
  


They were surprised a ghost nub poked their face when they were distracted looking around. They blinked their eyes and looked ahead...

  
  


“You were looking for me, weren't you?” Friendsta winked at them.

  
  


“...” Shysta looked a little soft. “Y-Yeah. Sorry about earlier.”

  
  


“It's okay. I was being too nosy, anyway. I should have expected you were a little like Blooky and would like to be left alone when needed.” Friendsta shrugged at this. “But you know... I got even Blooky to try having fun, even for just a while. I'm not expecting you to be like him! But you know... I thought you deserved to feel okay in a family reunion for once.”

  
  


“...?” Shysta seemed puzzled at this, to which the pink ghost only responded with smiling eyes.

  
  


“You think I haven't noticed you? Every family reunion, I see you sitting all alone by the Waterfall. Sometimes with a little red ghost by your side.” the pink ghost explained. “I always wanted to try to talk to you, but I didn't want to disturb you... until now.”

  
  


“...” the green ghost stared at them with a massive blush across their face. “Y-You... you noticed me?”

  
  


“Uh, yeah! Who wouldn't?”

  
  


The green ghost could think of everyone but his cousin and the pink ghost who would overlook him at all times. But... someone actually noticed him enough to pay close attention to how he was behaving during family reunions.

  
  


“Thanks.” Shysta smiled a little at this. “Uh... well...”

  
  


The pink ghost listened eagerly, hearing the shy ghost speak a little more.

  
  


“Could you show me around? I don't think I've looked around enough.” the green ghost spoke up as they looked at the pink ghost.

  
  


“That's the spirit!” the pink ghost looked so enthusiastic.

  
  


The two ghosts floated around the Blook Acres as the Blook showed a variety of snails to the Spook. The Spook looked genuinely interested looking at them, as the other explained the differences of each snail breed. They would also float around and eat some ghost food as they shared stories together, the stories mostly initiated by the Blook. The Spook seemed to smile a little, hearing how happy the Blook shared stories to keep up a conversation with them.

  
  


They floated back to the area with snails after eating and then watched as Napstablook conducted snail races for everyone to have fun with.

  
  


“See? That's Blooky!” said the pink ghost as they pointed at the bluish white ghost with a headset.

  
  


“Hey, that's my cousin with them.” said Shysta, a little surprised at this as he noticed the red ghost talking to Napstablook.

  
  


“Wow, really?? Hey come on, let's go... wait. Waaaaaait a minute. WAIT. That's YOUR cousin?? No wait, I'm not really surprised since of course he's from your clan but... you know him personally. I know him too.” replied Friendsta.

  
  


Shysta felt something was off about the pink ghost's remark. Knowing his cousin, they could already have caused prior trouble so they just watched the other ghost with Napstablook. The pink ghost just watched as well, as they could hear their conversation quite clearly.

  
  


“Hey uh... I'm sorry about earlier. I was such a jerk.” said the red ghost talking to bluish ghost. “I... well, I did mean to do that, b-but! I-I shouldn't have. You know? I-I'm sorry.”

  
  


“hey........ it's cool...” said the bluish ghost, a little surprised at this. “it's okay..... don't worry about it anymore........”

  
  


“Um... my name's Madsta, by the way. Madsta Spook. What's your name?” asked the red ghost as they reached a ghost nub out for a nubshake.

  
  


“uh......... napsta. napstablook........” the bluish ghost shyly held out a ghost nub too. The other shook nubs with him.

  
  


… They both blushed at this.

  
  


“Blooky! Hey!” called out the pink ghost as they, along with the green Spook, floated forward towards them.

  
  


“oh..... hey pinky...”

  
  


“Shysta??” the red ghost looked rather surprised, seeing their cousin with someone... a Blook, even! Shysta just seemed to shrug at this. Upon seeing the pink ghost, he looked a little embarrassed. “Uh... hey, I'm...”

  
  


“It's okay, I heard you talking with Blooky.” smiled the pink ghost.

  
  


The red ghost sheepishly smiled at this.

  
  


“So, like... do you wanna hang out, guys? I mean, maybe Blooky and I could show you what we do best, and you two can show us what you do best!” suggested the pink ghost.

  
  


“Sounds great.” Shysta nodded.

  
  


Madsta looked surprised with Shysta suddenly talking like this, but he actually looked happy seeing this. They all decided to hang out together, just the four of them. The snail race was taken care of by another Blook in Napstablook's place. They all floated to the entrance area, where the four of them could be alone for a while.

  
  


Apparently, the clan pairs decided to have a musical battle. They gathered the instruments they needed; the Spooks returned to their home for a while (which wasn't too far, considering it was in the wet area of the Waterfall) and the Blooks took their equipment from their houses.

  
  


Friendsta and Napsta performed a pop song; with the pink ghost as the lead singer and Napsta playing their DJ tunes as background music. Shysta and Madsta performed a rock song, it seems... Shysta played the bass guitar they found in the trash a few months back and Madsta played the lead guitar they found with the bass one as they were also the lead vocal.

  
  


They all had fun together, feeling happy that they all also shared a common bond in music. They spent the rest of the day having fun and knowing more things about each other... til the day had to end...

  
  


“See you around then, Napsta?” Madsta grinned like an idiot, a blush forming on his face.

  
  


“yeah..... see you later” Napstablook smiled up at him.

  
  


“Say... do you mind if we take your numbers?” Shysta asked, a little shyly just like his name implied.

  
  


“Yeah, sure!” Friendsta obliged and then they, along with their cousin Blooky, gave their numbers to the Spook before they parted.

  
  


***

  
  


“It was the best day of my life, Friendsta.” Shysta looked like he showed emotions for once. “You were the reason I... I felt loved, in the first place.”

  
  


They were finally back to reality after recounting such precious memories. Shysta was crouching down in front of Mettaton, who was still kneeling in pain.

  
  


“Shysta... I-I remember everything...” Mettaton cried as he looked up at him. He cried even more as he felt his systems work up, such as his hand involuntarily shifting into a weapon... he tried to stop it, but he just couldn't. “Shysta, I can't control it...”

  
  


“Friendsta...”

  
  


“Dr. Gaster reprogrammed me so that I have no real control of my body anymore. Most of the time, it takes over my mind too... so that I saw the world in a different view altogether. I still do remember you, and Blooky, and everyone... but as mere figures with basic relationships. Not as individ... uals... a-ah... Shystaaa...”

  
  


Mettaton cried as his arm completely turned into a cannon and his eyes turned red again.

  
  


“Shysta, I-I can't control it...”

  
  


“Friendsta, fight back. We'll work our way through this.”

  
  


“No, I... I can't... Shysta, please... it's taking over me again. Please... grant me one last request...”

  
  


“No...”

  
  


***

  
  


“ _Shysta, please kill me.”_

  
  


***

  
  


The touching scene suddenly shifted into a violent scene, where Mettaton lost control of himself again. His eyes turned darker with his irises the only noticeably “light” thing about him... and they were glowing a sinister red. He charged at Shysta as more gears started to shift and dart out from his back.

  
  


All of them... the ectoplasmic captor, his metallic tentacles, his cannons, and some other grotesque machinery and weapons that Gaster had installed in the pink robot... all of them came out of his back and he started to cry in apparent pain. In fact, he looked so pained that his voice started to glitch out...

  
  


Mettaton charged towards Shysta at full force, all of his weapons focused on eradicating the green robot. It was unclear if he wanted to retrieve Shysta's SOUL for whatever “they” had in store for the ghosts... or for anyone for that matter, but one thing was clear.

  
  


Someone was going down.

  
  


Shysta looked so pained as he had to face Mettaton, no... Friendsta, like this... he took the weapon from his abdomen and pulled out his whip to defend himself from his attacks. He didn't want to initiate any attacks.

  
  


He can't kill Friendsta.

  
  


Mettaton let out a war cry as his eyes looked like they were full of rage; he aimed his cannon at the green robot and shot at him. Luckily, Shysta was able to evade just in time. He sought to find Mettaton's weak spot to at least pacify him, as in a pressure point. Just like the way Gaster had rendered him motionless earlier...

  
  


“I'm going to save you, Friendsta!”

  
  


Shysta deflected some of Mettaton's attacks with his whip and tried to keep himself close. He found out that the deranged robot was relying mostly on projectiles as he continued to study his moves... perhaps staying close would help him attack less.

  
  


He felt the berserk robot grab him and throw him away, as if he was just a toy.

  
  


It wasn't the case; even when he was close, Mettaton seemed like he can fight just as good. Luckily, he rolled on the ground so he was able to get back up quickly.

  
  


“Shysta... please... please just kill me...” Mettaton cried in his glitched out tone. He was crying tears of oil... and acid? Yes, Napstablook cried tears of acid, and so did he. This was something that ran in their family, whereas Spooks cried tears of base.

 

 

 

“Friendsta, I will save you! I promise!” Shysta raised his tone, determination and panic in his eyes.

  
  


Mettaton cried once more and Shysta charged for him. Maybe if he could just get a good hold of him... he just has to try his hardest. Unlike his cousin Madsta, he couldn't fully admit things right away when things are looking bleak... he'd keep quiet and still keep on going until the end.

  
  


Friendsta's words rang in his mind, whenever he felt like giving up.

  
  


***

“It's hopeless, Friendsta. He's... he's going to die...”

  
  


Shysta and Friendsta were looking down at a weak snail, who barely looked like it was going to live. It looked very ill... both of them looked sadly at it.

  
  


“N-No!” Friendsta shook their head. They kept on giving it food, and even tried to force feed it. “M-Mr. Snuffles can't die! Things always turn out okay in the end... and if it's not okay, then it's not the end!”

  
  


…

  
  


Mr. Snuffles did die in the end. Nothing they did helped save the dying snail, but a week after his death, they saw that new baby snails crawled where he died. They were Mr. Snuffles' little snail babies... both Shysta and Friendsta saw new hope.

  
  


With this experience, Shysta learned that even if things may not turn out the way they wanted to in the end... there will always be a brand new hope that he will never expect. A new beginning that he may not be hoping for.

  
  


***

  
  


“ _ **Things always turn out okay in the end... and if it's not okay, then it's not the end!”**_

  
  


***

  
“Friendsta, it's not the end!” Shysta cried out, some of his tears finally giving in.

  
  


The Spook flicked his whip and it retracted into a sword and tried his best to block the Blook's attacks. He backed away and looked for an opening... he tried to look into Mettaton's eyes to try and reach out to him. After all, Madsta always said his eyes were so soulful that it could penetrate through people's souls... maybe he could make good use of it.

  
  


“Shysta...”

  
  


Mettaton cried and tried to hold back from attacking, it seemed. The beast-like charges from the once-elegant idol stopped momentarily, but he was shaking. It seemed his reprogramming had been out of control until now... but not for long.

  
  


“I-I can't hold this off much longer, Shysta... please just... just...”

  
  


“I will never do that!” said Shysta. He stepped closer, but all he heard was a growl from the other.

  
  


It seems that with each step he took, Mettaton's systems reacted... if he stepped any closer, the other could rip him apart like a provoked wild beast. He didn't know how to save him without getting torn to shreds...

  
  


So instead, Mettaton decided to walk forward.

  
  


He let out a sorrowful smile at him. His smile looking so apologetic, so sincere, so... resigned.

  
  


He took hold of Shysta's hand holding the weapon and thrust it in his heart core.

  
  


Shysta was in shock. He didn't even have the time to think or react. His weapon thrust inside of Mettaton's heart core... it started to leak out pink oil...

  
  


… And that was when Mettaton slowly loosened his grip on Shysta's hand. His systems started shutting down... until he fell limp on the ground. His grotesque machinery detached from his body and his body started to shift its gears until it stopped. He started to look more like his normal self.

  
  


“F-Friendsta... FRIENDSTA!” Shysta knelt down and took Mettaton in his arms. “Friendsta, don't die on me! DON'T!! DON'T LEAVE ME!!”

  
  


“I... Shy... sta...” Mettaton said in a glitched out voice. He was weak and barely alive... but still alive, thought Shysta.

  
  


“Friendsta, hang in there... please... please don't leave me...” Shysta cried as he put Mettaton's hand on his face and snuggled against it. “Please, Mettaton... a-all this time I have waited for you...”

  
  


“...” Mettaton smiled up at him. “I'm sorry, Shysta... I am so sorry...”

  
  


“Friendsta... when I met you back then in that alley, I knew it was you. I don't know who Mettaton is, but I know Friendsta. Y-You... you didn't remember me, but I... I remembered you...”

  
  


“It... must be... a programming glitch... I was the first robot Alphys ever made so... my memories... I-I...” Mettaton tried to explain, but he was dying...

  
  


“Friendsta, don't speak... l-let me do all the speaking this time. I-I...” Shysta started to break down. He knew that this could be the last time he'll ever speak to the Blook... “Friendsta... ever since I met you that day, I knew from that moment that you were different. I wish I didn't have to wait so much to... to tell you all this... now you're...”

  
  


Shysta still had tears rolling down his face as he bawled out his emotions. “Friendsta, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you... I... I love you, Friendsta... please don't leave me... I-I wish I told all of this to you earlier. I wish I was there for you when you went off to fulfill your dreams... I wish... I wish I wasn't too late...”

  
  


“...” Mettaton... Friendsta, smiled up at him. “Shysta... you're the first one to ever confess true love to me. I... I was wondering when you'd tell me... all...”

  
  


He held Shysta's hand and he closed his eyes.

  
  


***

  
  


Shysta opened his eyes to blinding light. It looked like he was in some sort of a foreign place... a place full of blinding light, and all around was beautiful pink flora. Wait... what?

  
  


Pink flora... it looked like the garden that Friendsta had always dreamed of having in the surface. They used to look at the Undernet together and look at beautiful pink flowers, since all their flowers in the Underground were only blue echo flowers.

  
  


Friendsta had to be here somewhere!

  
  


He called out his name as he ran around the place.

  
  


“FRIENDSTA!!”

  
  


In front of him was Friendsta, now a better-looking robot. He looked like the idol he had always presented in front of everyone; beautiful... gorgeous, even... and full of life. He saw him and ran to him... and hugged him.

  
  


“Friendsta... you're alive!”

  
  


“Shysta!”

  
  


They hugged each other, til they had to part to look into each other's eyes.

  
  


“I'm so sorry it took me so long to confess all this, Friendsta... I love you. I love you so much...”

  
  


“I was waiting for you... for so long, to say that... even as a star, I wondered when I'd ever meet you again. I lost some of my memories after my full face surgery... and losing our memories even for just a moment was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Shysta, I love you too...”

  
  


They both held hands and looked at each other.

  
  


“Please don't ever leave me, Friendsta... please... I promise I'll take care of you... I promise I'll never let this happen again...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


The blossoms started to get blown away by the gentle winds... almost completely, in fact. They seemed to vanish into the blinding light as they flew all around the two. Shysta was distracted for a while... this was what his lover wanted. He turned his head to look down at him again...

  
  


“F-Friendsta...?”

  
  


Friendsta was starting to vanish slowly into the light as well. Shysta looked frantic... he tried to get a hold of him again as he watched his lover start to vanish slowly starting from his feet...

  
  


“Friendsta, no...”

  
  


“Shysta, I'm so glad... thank you...” Friendsta smiled at him like an angel and hugged him once more. Shysta hugged him tightly as well and started to cry once more.

  
  


“Friendsta...”

  
  


He continued to slowly vanish with the pink blossom petals the danced in the wind, and vanished to the blinding light. Shysta saw to it that he will never let him go... he didn't know what will happen, but he's not willing to let Friendsta slip away like that... no, not after they finally confessed their feelings to each other...

  
  


***

  
  


When Shysta came to, he found that he was hugging something... or someone. He parted a little to look... he didn't know if he was dreaming, or if this was reality...

  
  


It was reality. He was given a harsh reminder like a slap on the face when he looked down and saw that he was indeed hugging the shell who was once Friendsta. His shell weary of all the battles and the reprogramming he was forced to be subject under in his captivity. Never again is he going to suffer again, as his face was as calm as that of a sleeping angel's...

  
  


Shysta gently brushed the lock of hair of the idol... Friendsta was someone who everyone looked up to, but most importantly, he was his inspiration...

  
  


And now...

  
  


“Friendsta...” Shysta's voice started to glitch out as tears started to stream from his face once more. He held him tightly in his arms. “Friendsta... F-Friendsta... FRIENDSTA!!”

  
  


He called out his name again, desperate to bring him back. His heart still had Shysta's weapon in it... he cried out all the raw emotions that he had never shown to him. His concern, his worries, his love... everything. Everything that he wished he could have shown him while it wasn't too late...

  
  


“Friendsta...”

  
  


But it was too late.

  
  


All that was in front of him now was a lifeless shell of who was once the person he had loved for so long. No longer was he going to hear his voice full of life, no longer was he going to feel his warmth again... no, this time he was left all alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The author is a diehard Shysttaton fan.


	24. Despair and Hope

###  **Chapter 24: Despair and Hope**

  
  


“How are you holding up, Naps?”

  
  


Madsta stopped walking for a while and looked back at his companion. The two did have it rough in such a few moments; falling apart and possibly losing pretty much everyone they care about... it was unclear if they can ever see them again, and that anxiety bubbling up in their chests is just unbearable.

  
  


“I... I'm okay. Thanks, Maddie...” Napstablook nodded, although he looked still quite pained.

  
  


Madsta took notice of this. “Naps... is anything else bothering you?”

  
  


“I... I just wonder how Pinky's doing. I can't seem to shake off the feeling that... that something's happened...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Madsta felt something ominous. He hesitantly reached out to embrace him, but he stopped. He didn't want to make him feel any more distressed than he already is. He instead reached out a hand and patted his shoulder.

  
  


“I'm sure that we can find him, Naps. We'll find him, and Shysta, and everyone else... then we'll get out of here.”

  
  


“How do we do that...?”

  
  


That's right. Things were easier said than done... like showing his love for the tiny robot.

  
  


“We'll wing it!” the red robot tried to cheer up the atmosphere a little.

  
  


“...”

  
  


That didn't seem like the best response at the situation. Things only felt more awkward...

  
  


“Uh... well. Let's keep moving on, Naps. I'm sure we'll stumble upon any of them sooner or later. And Paps... well...” Madsta tried to think through his clouded thoughts. “He's strong! He can probably pull through all this!”

  
  


“But that was a giant flower monster!” Napsta reacted. “How could he survive that? You saw it, Maddie..... that giant tendril slammed on him!”

  
  


“...” Madsta gulped and didn't know what else to think. He was trying to relive Papyrus' optimism but... it seems like it wasn't working at all. “I-”

  
  


“Stop it, Maddie! Just stop it! You're just making things worse! Things aren't going to get better! For all we know, we could die here... and Pinky could be dead, and everyone else could be dead! Stop lying to me!” Napstablook burst out and started to cry to himself.

  
  


“...” the red robot scratched his head and felt horrible about this. He felt horrible that he probably made things worse, when he just tried to lift up their moods a little amidst the pain. He just stood where he was and bowed his head, afraid to make things even worse.

  
  


“...” Napstablook eventually calmed down and took a step closer to his companion. “I.... I'm sorry, Maddie...... I know you're trying to make things better........ b-but it's just me......”

  
  


“It's okay, Napstablook. I can't blame you in this situation...” Madsta shook his head lightly.

  
  


“...... We'd best push on if we want to find any of them. We need to find your family, too......” Napstablook nodded. He walked on, hoping that the other would follow him... even after how he just snapped at him like that. Man, he was terrible, he thought...

  
  


For a minute there, he forgot that Madsta had so many struggles to deal with as well. He wouldn't have anyone by his side literally if anything went wrong in this mission. He could lose Shysta and his whole family in one sitting...

  
  


He shouldn't have been too tough on the red robot. After all, he's been doing everything he can to try and make up for everything...

  
  


He took a surreptitious glance over his shoulder to see if the red robot was following him... he was. They both walked on in search of the other people they were separated from. He looked back forward and tried to focus on their mission.

  
  


They have to save the Spook Clan. They have to look for their missing members. They have to get out of here.

  
  


Easier said than done, but if there's a will... there's a way.

  
  


That's what Friendsta would have said in a situation like this.

  
  


They pushed on... perhaps they can find a sliver of hope as long as they find at least one survivor on their side in all this. Why is this happening, they keep on asking as they walked along. Why does this have to happen? Why can't they live in peace?

  
  


Why?

  
  


As they walked aimlessly around the cold, dead, dusty corridors... they felt shivers up their spine. They heard someone faintly sobbing from one of the rooms. Should they be human, it would be hard for them to pinpoint this. However... Napstablook's auditory senses were particularly heightened when he was designed, as he had an affinity for music and audio in general. It was one of his requests from the lizard doctor when he asked for a shell of his own.

  
  


With his sharp auditory senses, it didn't take it long for him to pinpoint the direction to go to, with Madsta closely following him.

  
  


“Nap-Nap... I have a bad feeling about this.” Madsta couldn't hide his suspicions. He furrowed his brows... he gently grabbed Napstablook's wrist and stopped in his tracks. “... Are you sure you want to do this?”

  
  


His eyes looked full of concern, as he stared into the smaller robot's big eyes. The smaller robot looked frail, but determined.

  
  


“Y-Yes... i-if we don't then... I don't think we'll make any progress at all.” Napstablook said, although he also had an ominous feeling deep down.

  
  


“...” Madsta averted his eyes for a while and then he let go of the other's wrist. “... Okay. No matter what happens... I'm here for you. I just... really don't like the atmosphere here.”

  
  


He was right, and Napstablook felt it too. The atmosphere felt... unusually tense and heavy, even if there was no enemy in sight. The presence they felt didn't feel like a foe, so... what on earth was it? Only one way to find out...

  
  


They pressed on; they walked to a closed dusty old door. Madsta opted to open the door for them... it wasn't locked. In fact, upon closer inspection, the knob looked like it was touched not too long ago. Someone had definitely been in here.

  
  


They cautiously walked inside, with Madsta urging Napstablook to stay close to him and hold his free arm, as his other arm was equipped with his trusty knife for any unwanted presence.

  
  


The place was a mess, that's what they first noticed. Cabinets and desks were thrashed around, various lab equipment like flasks and tubes were shattered on the old, slightly cracked tiles... but the scenario looked fresh; it didn't look like it had been this way for a long time, considering the accumulated dust they had observed from the door.

  
  


Then they saw it. Madsta saw it first, and so he turned back and embraced Blooky to obscure his vision.

  
  


“Huh? M-Madsta, what are you doing??” Napstablook was shocked more than anything. He tried to shake free from the grasp of the robot.

  
  


“N-Naps... I...” Madsta's voice was shaking. The smaller robot looked up at him... his eyes looked so very conflicted... so concerned... so shocked, as if he was terrified of something. What was he so afraid of? This only got the blue robot even more curious.

  
  


“Madsta, let me go! Please! What did you see??” Napstablook tried to shake himself off the embrace of the tiger-like robot... amidst his struggling, he saw what the red robot had seen...

  
  


It was a little obscure, as he was barely peeking over the taller robot's strong arms, but... he could make out a form. Long, flowing white hair... and a mint green armour... no doubt about it, it was Shysta. He seemed to be kneeling on the ground while holding something in his arms... he couldn't make it out. But... the sobbing they had heard from earlier... it definitely came from the green robot.

  
  


“Madsta, it's Shysta! Let go!” he struggled again. This time, he was able to shake himself free... he was tiny, so he was able to slip through his arms a little easier.

  
  


“Napsta, NO!!” Madsta cried out and reached out for him.

  
  


Upon hearing this familiar voice, Shysta seemed to freeze. He slowly turned his head and looked back to the other two robots, an unusual aura in his eyes present. His eyes had always looked so cool and stoic most of the time that they had seen him but... this time, his eyes looked so hopeless and scared. He just maintained his position, frozen in place, not able to move joint nor engine as the blue robot paced forward to meet him.

  
  


… But the small robot stopped halfway.

  
  


“...”

  
  


He just stood there, frozen... his big, crystalline eyes fixed on the other's heterochromic ones. Not long after, his legs shook and then he couldn't help it... his knees gave way, and he found himself kneeling on the ground as he stared at him.

  
  


Shysta was holding the person he had been looking for all this time in his arms, but not the way he wanted it.

  
  


Shysta was holding the lifeless shell of his cousin Mettaton, worn out and stained with blood-like oil. What shocked him was the weapon of what took his cousin's life...

  
  


… Shysta's sword. It was still impaled on Mettaton's heart core.

  
  


“...” Madsta was standing just behind Napstablook, as he looked terrified of the scene. He couldn't see what face the blue robot was making as he just stared at his long-haired cousin...

  
  


“How... how dare you...” Napstablook managed to utter.

  
  


“...” Shysta seemed to snap out of his fearful stance. “N-Napsta... it's not what you think.”

  
  


His voice tried to sound calm, but he stuttered and his voice started to glitch out just like the other's as he spoke. Oh boy, this was serious...

  
  


Napstablook slowly stood up from his position... Madsta stepped back a little, his stance wary.

  
  


“HOW DARE YOU?!” Napstablook screamed and then he lunged at the green robot without warning. He was far too quick for the red robot to grab, and so he was able to initiate the first attack.

  
  


Shysta seemed to have seen this coming and so slowly let go of Mettaton and then jumped away from him, so that the berserk Blook wouldn't accidentally make any further damage to him. He backed away with each evasion he did, the blue robot making fast advancements with every holographic note that he tried to launch directly at his torso and his face.

  
  


“WHY WOULD YOU KILL HIM?! WHY?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!” Napstablook screamed words aimlessly... he was lost in both sadness and rage, that he just wanted to land an attack on the green Spook.

  
  


“Napsta! SNAP OUT OF IT!!” Madsta called out, frantically trying to think of a way to stop him from afar.

  
  


“...” Shysta never replied. He just tried his best to evade... perhaps he was trying to get him tired, so he can calmly stop him. Amidst his thinking, he didn't see an extra note coming and so it hit his shoulder. “!”

  
  


“I HATE YOU!!” screamed Napstablook with so much pain, anger, and sorrow in his voice as he raised the lock of hair over his eye. It looked like it was glowing red, and that so many computations and codes were running around in its iris...

  
  


This looked dangerous. Along with the red iris acting up, Napstablook's arm gears looked like they were shifting into... well, whatever they were (presumably cannons), they looked dangerous and so Madsta immediately jumped into action and held the Blook from behind.

  
  


“LET ME GO! LET ME GO!!” Napstablook screamed. “MURDERER!!!!!”

  
  


“Naps, I'm sure there's a logical explanation to this! My cousin is not a murderer!” Madsta shook his head violently as he held him as tightly as he could from behind. Adrenaline was strong in the small robot... it actually gave him some challenge to hold him back.

  
  


“...” Shysta just stood there.

  
  


“Shy...?” Madsta called out to him, hoping for a response.

  
  


“...” Shysta looked at them and stepped closer to the berserk Blook. “He made me kill him. He killed himself.”

  
  


“LIAR!!!!!” Napstablook screamed once more at the top of his lungs, that it started to glitch out.  
  
  


 

 

The blue robot struggled so much that when his gears did stop shifting, he was able to shake the bigger robot off from holding him. The red robot saw that this was futile, and that his cousin was about to get attacked... just as the blue robot aimed for the other, Madsta jumped into action and tackled his cousin; the both of them landing on the ground.

  
  


Madsta was on top of Shysta. The green robot looked up at him with concern... and he saw him more up close. Pain in his eyes, worry, fear, concern... all of the emotions he had been trying to keep and stay strong for. He also noticed the scratches his cousin had endured... what had these people been doing to him while he was gone? And... that's when he saw a fresh tear from Madsta's shoulder pad and the side of his waist... all because he tackled him to evade the blast from the blue robot's arm cannons...

  
  


Seeing this made Shysta look like something inside of him snapped. He gently, but quickly pushed his cousin off him and then stood up. He stared at the blue Blook for a while, still lost in anger...

  
  


He growled and then charged at him in quick speed, that Napstablook wasn't able to read his movements. That's when it hit him... literally. Shysta aimed to punch him in the abdomen where it was the most sensitive, given his heart core was there. It was literally shaken, and it looked like the Blook weakened a little.

  
  


He took this chance to grab the Blook and pin him to the ground.

  
  


“L-Let go... let GO!” Napstablook growled, weakened but still angry.

  
  


Shysta widened his eyes in what seemed to be sudden anger, as he furrowed his brows. He raised one of his hands and punched the Blook in the face.

  
  


“Do you really think I'd willingly KILL your cousin?!” he raised his tone.

  
  


The Blook stopped struggling, his former anger now starting to be replaced with fear. The red robot watching from afar grew afraid too... as much as he wanted to protect Napstablook, he remained frozen in fear.

  
  


He had never seen his cousin like this, and they grew up together. That's saying a lot.

  
  


“...” tears started to stream down Shysta's face once more, as he did earlier on when they saw him. “What kind of a person do you take me for, Napstablook?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


The blue robot could not reply. His other eye seemed to calm down as it was no longer glowing a bright red. His arm cannons still remained, however, although they were dormant.

  
  


“I LOVED your cousin. LOVED him.” Shysta tried to keep his voice low, despite the gush of emotions. He looked unusually vulnerable... “I loved him with all my heart. But... he...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


“Do you know HOW MUCH it pained me that he made me kill him?! I tried to think of a way to pacify him... to save him... but he grabbed my armed hand and thrust my sword through his heart.” Shysta recounted, his voice glitching even more at the mention of the heart stab. “My love died in my arms... and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to tell his most beloved cousin. I didn't know... I didn't know...”

  
  


“...” Napstablook looked like he finally regained his senses. “Shysta...”

  
  


Shysta got off the blue robot and just stood up, turned away from the other two living robots. This was the cue for Madsta to rush by the Blook's side and check for any injuries.

  
  


“Naps... are you okay?” he asked worriedly, as if it were the only thing that mattered.

  
  


He can't believe it... even after all that, Madsta still cared for him. The thought alone made him cry...

  
  


“Madsta... you're hurt because of me... don't you hate me...?” tears started to well up in his eyes.

  
  


“This? Oh, it's nothing.” Madsta said, trying to crack a smile as he did so. It did hurt but... he didn't want to make things worse. “What matters is that you're okay. Mettaton... he... Napsta, you have to stay alive for him. Stay strong for him. And that's exactly why I'm still here... I want to make sure you're able to pull through all this.”

  
  


“... Madstaaa....” he whined. He looked back at the lifeless shell who was once his cousin... the pitiful sight alone gave him a wave of inexplicable emotions that he just started crying on the red robot. “Pinky... P-Pinky...”

  
  


“When we're all done with this, we're giving him a proper funeral.” Shysta said, in his usual cool tone, however with a tinge of anger. It didn't seem directed at the other Blook cousin; it seemed directed at the situation itself.

  
  


“Shysta.” Madsta called out to him as he still had the blue robot crying in his arms as they knelt on the ground. The green robot looked back at him, but they both just gave their own gazes. Shysta's eyes were cold, and yet his was warm and full of concern. “...”

  
  


“...” Shysta let out a silent sigh and then he stepped closer to them. “Where have you two been and what's happened?”

  
  


After an exchange of dialogue, the two sides explaining what had happened to them, they all had a clearer view of what each other had been through although... not entirely the whole situation. It was still all so bizarre. During the conversation, that was when Madsta tried to help Napstablook shift his gears back so that he had normal arms again.

  
  


“So you're saying... you just witnessed Papyrus get killed by this huge flower, and you saw me crying over Friendsta.” said Shysta, the cool in his voice finally back.

  
  


“Yeah, that's basically it.” Madsta nodded. He seemed to speak for him and Napstablook, as the other still seemed to be silent from the shock. “... Seeing his close friend/bodyguard and cousin die consecutively is harsh for him.”

  
  


“I understand. I can't blame him for thinking I was the murderer. To an extent... that's true.” Shysta's eyes still looked stoic, but they looked sad as well...

  
  


“Shy...” Madsta knew how hard his cousin was trying to stay strong for them. After all, Shysta WAS the eldest among all the four ghosts... he felt the responsibility to lead everyone with calmness despite everything that's happening.

  
  


Shysta couldn't bring himself to freak out, even if he wanted to... even if he needed to. He felt it was a responsibility he bore as the eldest.

  
  


“I think I saw a safe spot on the way here. We can leave Friendsta's body there and pick it back up when this is all over.” Shysta said with a somewhat monotonous voice. “For now, we have to find Sans before we lose him too.”

  
  


Madsta nodded at this. “Alright. Do you have any idea where Sans could be?”

  
  


“Yeah. As a matter of fact, he was held back while I escaped. Knowing him, he's probably hanging in there.” Shysta replied and then picked Mettaton in his arms. He couldn't help but look down at him... his lifeless, pathetic body... he pursed his lips at the sight and shed a tear, but he decided to stop before he felt the pain well up again. “Let's go.”

  
  


They walked out of the room; Shysta carrying Mettaton's body, and Madsta assisting the shocked Napstablook, who still can't speak after all that's happened. The red robot was concerned for his companions... losing Mettaton, who was both a love interest and a cousin to his comrades, was a fatal blow. Losing Papyrus was already enough, and he could not bring himself to think of what to say when they got back home... but losing Mettaton as well. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like when they get out of here...

  
  


Finally, they arrived in the safe room that Shysta had talked about and then they decided to leave him there, lying down on a table while tucked in a thin sheet. Shysta made it so that he looked like he was only sleeping...

  
  


He lowered his head towards Mettaton's face and slowly kissed his cheek, as he let out a tear or two, and then slowly got up. He turned back to his companions as if nothing happened.

  
  


“Let's go.”

  
  


***

  
  


As they made their way, they could not help but drag their own weary bodies. While they were confident that Sans wouldn't die on his own, given that he was very powerful... they hated themselves for feeling so inefficient as they are now.

  
  


Not one wanted to bring up how worn out their bodies were... it had been a while since they were given their maintenance as well as their last battery charge... all of them pretended that this was no big deal and that they had to press on.

  
  


However, it didn't last long. Napstablook fainted in Madsta's arms while they were all walking, and the Spook holding him was evidently alarmed. He gasped and crouched low to lay the poor little robot on the ground, as he still supported his upper body with his strong arms.

  
  


“Napsta!!!” Madsta was in a fit of panic. He looked up at his cousin, his eyes showing that he was at loss, and mentally begged him to tell him what to do.

  
  


“...” Shysta crouched down as well and tried to check up on him. He put his hand on the Blook's forehead, slightly opened his silicone eyelids to inspect his weary eyes, and then looked at the rest of his body. He even checked for a robotic pulse... that is, if his systems were still whirring from deep inside him.

  
  


Their models weren't designed to stop fully; no, their inner mechanics were that there were nonstop gears that operate even in their sleep mode. These were so that the soul can still keep in touch with a functioning robot body. Should their gears stop, there's no telling what would happen to the fused SOUL...

  
  


The systems were still whirring from inside him. Napstablook was still alive.

  
  


…

  
  


***

  
  


“...”

  
  


The setting was blurry... it looked as if it was another laboratory, but it was relatively small compared to some of the rooms the robots had been to. A small groan from a tiny voice was heard... it was none other than Napstablook's. As his vision cleared, he made out that he was in a room, and that he was lying down on some sort of a cushioned table. He looked around and eventually met his gaze with a familiar red robot sitting on a foldable metal chair, who was just watching him rest.

  
  


“How are you feeling?” Madsta said in an unusually soft tone, his face contorted with so many emotions of fear and concern.

  
  


“I'm... I'm okay... what happened?” Napstablook sat up from his table and faced him properly.

  
  


“You fainted. Don't you remember? We were making our way to save Sans... and then you suddenly fainted... we checked up on you to see what could have made you lose consciousness. We saw that your body was weary and full of dents and pricks.” Madsta couldn't hide the worry rise in his tone.

  
  


“Pricks...?”

  
  


That's right. Madsta and Papyrus did save him from this being called Flowey, who, until the said two saved him, had wrapped his thorny tendrils on his delicate robot body. It was so tight that it left small dents and marks of thorns on him...

  
  


“We concluded those thorns were laced with something, and we were worried that it could potentially harm your system...” Madsta continued, his voice starting to crack. “And not to mention, stressing yourself out earlier with your sudden semi-transformation...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


Napstablook remembered it. He went berserk, and he wasn't able to control himself. He lunged at the usually calm Spook, concluding from the scene he had seen that the Spook had murdered his cousin. However, that wasn't the case... and the Spook literally needed to knock some sense into him.

  
  


Remembering it as it just happened earlier brought intense shame to him.

  
  


“Napstablook... I'm scared... I'm so scared...” Madsta couldn't stop himself from crying. “I was terrified of the thought of losing Shysta... and now... n-now with all this happening, I'm petrified to think that I could lose you too...”

  
  


Napstablook looked at him quietly, looking at the pitiful robot. He was a huge model, he had so many weapons, and prior to being a robot... he was the Mad Dummy. The Mad Dummy who would utter so many hateful words, the Mad Dummy who would always be so angry, the Mad Dummy who would scream at all his comrades and outright claim that he didn't need any friends.

  
  


The Mad Dummy...

  
  


Madsta was so different from who he used to be. The ghost who said he didn't need friends is now cowering in fear of losing his loved ones...

  
  


Seeing such a sight made Napstablook crumble from the inside.

  
  


“I don't know what I'd do if I lost you...” Madsta continued as he shook his head slowly, tears running down his cheeks. “Napsta... I still couldn't forgive myself for doing what I did to you, and I'm still hoping that I could redeem myself someday... but with all this happening, I-I...”

  
  


“...” Napstablook softened his face and then he laid a hand softly on the crying robot's cheek, causing the other look into his eyes in surprise. “Madsta...”

  
  


“... Napstablook...”

  
  


Neither spoke for a while, as the atmosphere was intense. They just looked into each other's eyes, before the red robot averted his eyes to his side.

  
  


“I... I love you, Napsta. I don't know what it is, but... I really like you...” Madsta said quietly, with an intense blush forming on his cheeks as tears still rolled down on them. “B-But... I understand. I know you don't have the same feelings, but I just wanted to tell you that...”

  
  


“...”

  
  


“You're my first love, Napsta...”

  
  


“... Madsta...” Napstablook said, his voice cracking a little. “I'm... I'm honoured...”

  
  


Madsta let out a smile; it was sincere, but almost too sad, that it seemed to start to accept that the other may never feel the same way towards him, ever. But that will never change the feelings he had for the Blook...

  
  


“W-Well...” he tried to change the topic, since he can feel the Blook's awkwardness on this topic. “Anyway... how are you feeling? Do you think you can get up? Shysta and I tried to use whatever we can in this lab to try and extract the poison from that flower's tendrils. Thankfully, it hadn't spread yet, so we were able to get most, if not all, of it out.”

  
  


“... Yeah, I'm feeling okay. Thank you, Madsta...” Napstablook nodded. “Um... where IS Shysta...?”

  
  


Mentioning his name made him feel the guilt again, upon remembering that he went berserk on him earlier while they were both feeling intense pain about what had happened. He didn't even consider how it could have pained Shysta and directly accused him of killing his cousin... Shysta's own love interest.

  
  


He felt ashamed. He wanted to see him so he could apologise before they moved on.

  
  


“He went ahead to find Sans. He said he couldn't wait for you to recover fully, so he told me to watch over you. Thankfully, now I know where they are... I tried to sense their presence via radar while you were resting. They're not too far from here.” Madsta nodded.

  
  


“Is that so...” Napstablook felt a little sad that he couldn't apologise to him right away.

  
  


“If you're feeling better, we can go after them now.” Madsta held both of Napstablook's hands. “But if you don't... it's best that you stay here and recuperate. I'll come back with Shysta and Sans after the fight.”

  
  


“...” Napstablook looked a little... frustrated. He pressed the red robot's huge hands. “Madsta... I don't want to feel useless... or a burden, because that's what I feel all this time. I feel like I'm only holding everyone back... I want to help you all, and get to the bottom of this... and free all your cousins.”

  
  


“Napsta...” Madsta looked worried about all this, but he decided to trust the little Blook. He managed to crack a small grin. “Very well. We are a team, after all. And we do need each other, knives or no knives.”

  
  


“...” Napstablook cracked a small grin himself, hearing this from the Spook.

  
  


The Mad Dummy who once said he didn't need friends since he had knives... went back on his word, and said those words. He was so proud of how much progress Madsta had done... when all this is over, he wanted to talk to Madsta about it. But now wasn't the time. They had to rush and help Sans and Shysta, lest they ended up like Mettaton and Papyrus...

  
  


They can't let that happen. They won't.

  
  


The Blook and the Spook readied themselves to plunge into battle once more, and get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a long while of not updating... finally, chapter 24 is here! Thanks for being patient and... I hope you all like it!  
> Writing this chapter honestly made me want to marry Madsta more.


	25. Sans

###  **Chapter 25: Sans**

  
  


“Watch it, young man. You don't want to die.”

  
  


The setting was a huge laboratory... no, this looks like THE laboratory of Dr. Gaster himself. The main laboratory where he conducted most of his experiments...

  
  


There were huge monitors all over the walls, as well as speakers. The place was actually well-lit, as the scientist probably needed the best lighting to be able to work on his experiments. Huge tables were in some parts of the huge laboratory... and they were all scattered, along with broken flasks and test tubes. It looked like there were a lot of signs of struggles at this point.

  
  


Gaster had his own blasters just beside him, as Sans seemed to have gotten his own blasters back. The doctor was not referring to his own son when he said “young man”, rather, he was referring to the mint green robot who was standing just by Sans' side.

  
  


“You can't kill a ghost. I'm not corporeal yet.” Shysta said.

  
  


“Suppose that is true, then if your shell gets destroyed... what good are you but to come back to our side and join your family?”

  
  


Shysta grunted at this and furrowed his eyebrows more than he already had.

  
  


“Where are they?” asked the robot.

  
  


“They're with them already. If I held them here any longer, then our plans will not be complete.” Gaster replied. “Anyway... I'm sure you have realised by now that this is not what you call your own 'reality'.”

  
  


Both Sans and Shysta stayed quiet, as they glared intently at the speaking doctor.

  
  


“No, this is their reality. Whatever they say, goes. However, they need help with what they want to be able to do all this. They aren't particularly... strong enough. Perhaps they lack SOULs to work with.”

  
  


“Who are 'they'?” Shysta asked once more. He slightly remembered asking Mettaton the same thing before, that it brought a pang to his heart.

  
  


“Anyway, don't meddle. My son... this is for our own good. I don't want to fight you, and I don't want to fight your robot either.” Gaster frowned, as he looks like he wants to stop all this.

  
  


“dad... if you don't stop this... we're all gonna have a bad time. either way.” Sans replied, his eyes dim.

  
  


The doctor looked disheartened at this as he let out a heavy sigh. He looked at both Sans and Shysta... he looked so sad, but the two weren't moved by him at all. Sans was far too clouded with how much he wanted to stop his father from doing this, and Shysta... nobody ever knows what the robot's thinking. It was hard to tell, but the robot was staring at Gaster with cold eyes.

  
  


“Very well. If this is what you really want...” Gaster prepared a battle stance again. “You're just like your mother was. So persistent and strong...”

  
  


The hooded skeleton only growled quietly at this and then he summoned his blasters to aim at his own father. His father was quick to defend himself with his own blasters, however. Both seemed quite good at both defense and offense.

  
  


Whenever Gaster saw an opening, Shysta would be there to block the attack for Sans, as they backed each other up.

  
  


The robot finally drew his weapon from his abdomen, after gathering enough courage. He had been using only a backup dagger from his abdomen compartment to attack up til this point. He looked down at it briefly as Sans took care of Gaster's attacks.

  
  


He felt sentimental... and hurt... and sorrowful... there were so many mixed emotions that he felt upon looking down at his own special weapon. This was the same weapon that killed his beloved, and he wasn't sure if he can actually use it again after that.

  
  


“Shysta, what are you doing??” Sans cried out as he unleashed some bone attacks to back his blasters up. “You're gonna get hit if you don't move!”

  
  


“...” Shysta looked up from his weapon and flicked it from its sword form to its whip form. He had made up his mind. “This is for you, Friendsta.”

  
  


Sans' eyes widened at this, not knowing what exactly he meant by that... although he had a hunch. He and the Spook never had a decent conversation as they both jumped into this battle before anything else. He grimaced and ordered his blasters to go into defence position as Gaster was about to launch a relatively powerful attack.

  
  


Shysta was able to evade it, and Sans was too. They had to jump away from each other and disperse, so that Gaster wasn't able to hit a single spot; so that he was distracted. The robot lashed his whip and was able to hit one of Gaster's blasters.

  
  


The blaster was injured from the strong lash. The robot didn't seem to hold back using it, as he was determined to stop this and get answers for everything at all costs. His cousins getting kidnapped... his beloved getting killed in his own hands... it was all because of this man, as far as he was concerned. No matter if he's Sans' father, he could never find it in his heart to forgive him.

  
  


He grit his teeth and aimed for the other blaster, but it got his whip in its teeth just in time. He was surprised as the blaster flicked around and smashed him on the ground. He groaned upon trying to get up from the impact.

  
  


Gaster walked over to him and looked down at him, all while dispersing his blasters to take care of his son's attacks. He looked sad... but sinister.

  
  


“Are you very determined to join them?” Gaster asked in a cold tone. “I will be honest with you. I examined you and you won't last very long in this state. I suppose you're trying to kill yourself now after you have killed your own lover.”

  
  


“!!!” Shysta felt horribly attacked, and something inside of him snapped upon the mention of his lover. With emergency power running in his body (equivalent to “adrenaline” of organic individuals), he got up and sought to attack the doctor directly.

  
  


The doctor however, was quick to evade just like his son. He looked quite tired from all this, actually...

  
  


“Wait. I have a proposal. How about we all forget this and have a truce? I will even bring back your lover for you. What do you say?” Gaster let out a hand, as if for a handshake from the robot.

  
  


Sans was calling out to Shysta, but he didn't seem to comprehend. All that the robot could think of was bringing Friendsta back... and as much as he had tried so hard to keep his cool, his systems had been so messed up that it's messing with his mind... his rationality... his logic.

  
  


For once in his life, he could not think straight.

  
  


After all, he was a rushed project. Madsta's body had the original “human eradicating” robot blueprints, and so he was based off a relatively sturdy and strong design. Even if he was made in just about a week or so, he had a sturdy foundation. Shysta's body had a template too, but it was nowhere near sturdy... his body was made in just four days, after all.

  
  


This meant that some of his functions were nowhere as sturdy as the other robots'.

  
  


Even if he himself, as a ghost, had a stable mind... his robot body could get in the way of that. He wanted to get out of his body, but if he went out... Gaster may take him and he may not be able to save his cousins.

  
  


He can't let that happen.

  
  


What to do? What to think? What to trust?

  
  


…

  
  


Shysta's mind was so muddled that he reached out to Gaster's hand to shake it... as he clasped his hand against his, the doctor's eyes dimmed down and levitating magical bones seemed to be waiting just behind him to be lunged at the robot.

  
  


“NO!!!!!!!!!” Sans cried out and then he rushed to tackle the robot out of harm's way.

  
  


… Did he tackle him out of harm's way?

  
  


…

  
  


When he tackled him, Shysta's arm was ripped off. Gaster was still holding the hand of the detached arm, as he stared at the two blankly. The hooded skeleton grabbed the robot he built and put him to a relatively safe spot, just behind a few fallen tables.

  
  


“shoot...” Sans looked worriedly at him. Thankfully, he wasn't leaking much oil, but he did look like he was a little weak from getting his darn arm torn off. Sans began to blame himself for designing him this way in a fit of rush.

  
  


“Sans, go out there and get him.” Shysta growled. “I can't believe I let him fool me like that... shit.”

 

 

 

He groaned at the pain of losing his arm; he cupped his hollow socket joint and tried to keep conscious. The hooded skeleton took off to face his father once more, after making sure that the robot was fine on his own. He decided to deal with this later.

  
  


“Sans!!!! SHYSTA!!!”

  
  


A familiar voice echoed throughout the room. At the sound of this, Shysta was alarmed.

  
  


Madsta and Napstablook had made it to the laboratory, and were familiarizing themselves with the situation. They seemed confused and wary, as the once-organised laboratory now looked like a battlefield.

  
  


“MADSTA!!!! LOOK OUT!!!!” the green Spook screamed as loud as his speakers can handle.

  
  


Gaster had launched a laser-like beam at the two new entrants using his magic from his hands. Napstablook had seen this, and so he tried his best to tackle Madsta out of harm's way. They stumbled on the ground, and the Blook ended up landing on top of him.

  
  


“... Nap-Nap, you saved me...” Madsta looked shocked more than anything else.

  
  


… The two blushed a little at this, but this was no time for anything like this! Madsta picked up the small robot, not exactly in the most comfortable way. He picked him up by the waist and held him by the side of his own waist, as if he was a beach ball or something. It was the most convenient way to carry him at the moment.

  
  


They both made it to where Shysta was hiding.

  
  


“DAD!!!!!” Sans called out as he came out of their safe hiding place. “This is a battle between you and I. Don't drag them into this.”

  
  


“They're meddling with us, so I had to attack. But by all means... I will not harm them if they don't try to meddle with our private affairs.” Gaster replied.

  
  


“GUYS!!!! don't heck around.” Sans called out and then clasped his hands. “Let's end this, dad.”

  
  


The robots looked shocked at the weakened Shysta. He looked so fatigued... after having to fight his lover, then having to face such a powerful foe like Gaster too... and unlike the two of them, he never had any rest. He was emotionally and physically drained, but he was hanging in there.

  
  


“Napstablook. How are you feeling?” Shysta said in a hushed tone, while still cupping his hollow shoulder socket.

  
  


Napstablook didn't know how to feel. “I-I'm fine...”

  
  


“COUSIN, I think that's our line. What the hell happened to you?!” Madsta looked panicked as he inspected Shysta's shoulder.

  
  


“...” the green robot averted his eyes, feeling ashamed of his situation. “I lost my arm. I'm fine.”

  
  


“WHAT THE FUCK, COUSIN.” the red robot could not stop himself from cussing, even in front of Napstablook, due to so much stress. “'I LOST MY ARM. I'M FINE.' WHO THE HELL SAYS THAT.”

  
  


That was when Sans was thrown on the ground not too far away from them. He groaned on impact and tried to get up, but it seems like the attack dealt to him made it hard for him to recover. Gaster walked up to him slowly, while looking down at him. He, however, looked at where the robots were staying. This alarmed Sans, but he couldn't move from where he was half-sprawled.

  
  


Gaster didn't do anything to the robots but toss Shysta's arm towards their direction, and didn't say anything else about it. Of course, this left everyone confused...

  
  


“Son... I can't keep up this charade.” Gaster cast his blasters away. “They need me now. We don't need your robots. Given how much emotional trauma they have suffered here, they're nearly corporeal. Especially *your* green robot. If you don't take care of him, he'll die.”

  
  


Sans didn't say anything about this and just remained quiet. He was trying to get up for another attack, but Gaster soon vanished. They were all left in silence as they awaited anything else that could happen.

  
  


… Nothing seemed to be happening. Sans crawled back to the rest of the group and tried to check up on Shysta.

  
  


“ugh... this is all my fault.” said the hooded skeleton as he took the dismantled robot's arm in his hands. He looked up at Shysta again and saw what a wreck he was... he looked almost pitiful, even if he was trying to stay cool.

  
  


“Sans, I could not thank you enough for giving me this robot body in such a short amount of time. Don't blame yourself.” was all that the green Spook replied. He looked weak, but determination still gleamed in his eyes.

  
  


“Dammit cousin, if you don't take care of yourself, I'm going to be so... so...” Madsta started, his voice quaky, and his tears welling up in his eyes. “... so... MAD!!!!!!!!”

  
  


“...” Shysta could not help but smile weakly at this. With his still-attached arm, he reached out to his cousin's shoulder and patted it. “Haven't you ever heard of the saying, 'it's hard to kill bad grass'?”

  
  


“UGHHHHH BUT YOU'RE NOT BAD GRASS!” the red robot sounded a little more like his older self, as he reacted at this.

  
  


“Guys... I-I don't mean to interrupt, but...” Napstablook called their attention with his soft voice. “Where do you think he's disappeared to?”

  
  


That was when both Shysta and Sans started to remember the doctor's words. They looked shocked; the robot eventually groaning in pain after thinking too much, and the skeleton alarmed at this. He came to aid the robot and tried to make a temporary fix with his arm, with whatever he could find in the laboratory that could suffice to attach it.

  
  


While working on the Spook's arm, Sans began to talk.

  
  


“we'd better hurry in any case.” he said, while focusing on the repairs. “he said that your family is with 'them' already. i have no idea who he's talking about but... it looks like they're almost done with their plan. we have to stop them before it's too late.”

  
  


“But... where in the world are they?” Napstablook began to wonder, as he grew extremely anxious about this. “And... how do we get there?”

  
  


These questions left the group quiet, as none seemed to know just how to answer that. They all struggled to think of ways, but none seemed to know what they're actually thinking of. Madsta scratched his head, a mannerism of his when he thinks too much... Napstablook on the other hand, fidgeted with his hands and stared at them.

  
  


… That was when it hit him.

  
  


Napstablook saw his own damages. He was a mess. There were damages and dents on his body, all thanks to this fellow called Flowey.

  
  


…

  
  


Flowey. No matter where they were, he seemed to be present. In this alternate reality, it seemed that he was omnipresent, and so... it must mean that he was connected to every corner of this reality. Was he the main frame of this whole setting?

  
  


…

  
  


“Guys. We need to find that giant flower.” Napstablook spoke up.

  
  


This shocked all the others, including the cool Shysta. He didn't seem to know what to say, so he just stayed quiet. Sans stayed quiet as well, not knowing how to react to this. As for Madsta...

  
  


“Nap-Nap, are you crazy?! That thing almost killed you! Look at you!” he gestured to Napstablook's worn-out body, full of dents made by the giant flower's vines. “If... if we try to find that thing again, who knows what it'll do to you?! W-What if...”

  
  


“Maddie. Do you trust me?” he replied quite bluntly. Even he was surprised that he was talking like this, but it's probably because of his determination to find a way to get where Gaster and... 'them', were, whoever that 'them' is that they were talking about.

  
  


“...” Madsta could not think of a good reply to this at first. “O-Of course I trust you. I-I just don't want you hurt...”

  
  


“I know, Maddie...” replied the Blook. “But there's no other way right now. If we find that flower, then maybe we could find a way to find out where they are. That flower seems omnipresent... and so, if we find it, and somehow, get it to transport us to where they are...”

  
  


“... Then we can find our cousins.” Shysta concluded, finally following the Blook's plan. “It's crazy, but it just may work. I don't think we have much of a choice.”

  
  


“and i'm pretty sure that flower will be headed to wherever dad and that other person is. even if the rest of his body holds the place, his head will be present... literally, in that meeting place of theirs. we can trace him.” Sans nodded. “great thinking, naps.”

  
  


Napstablook felt good that he was able to help them for once. Madsta looked proud of him, and so did Shysta. Sans was almost finished repairing the green Spook's torn arm when he opened his mouth and the others looked like they became pale.

  
  


“have you guys seen papyrus anywhere? he's the only one missing in our search party.” Sans asked.

  
  


“...”

  
  


None of them were able to speak out. There was an awkward silence for what seemed to be a minute, before the blue skeleton's eyes dimmed out and continued repairing Shysta's arm, as in a quick first aid.

  
  


“Don't get too carried away with that, okay Shysta? Else you're gonna have a bad time, and I may not be able to repair it right away.” Sans said in a low tone. He stood up and stretched a little, then walked off to the nearest exit. “If we're going to find Gaster, and his friends, we'd better go.”

  
  


“...”

  
  


The robots felt even more awkward and nervous with this. But they had no choice; they had to go and find out where exactly the others were meeting up.

  
  


Shysta caught up to Sans and explained that he had left Mettaton's body in a particular room, and had to go fetch it... but with his newly-aided, yet strained, arm, the red Spook volunteered to fetch and carry it for them. They all waited patiently until Madsta came in with Mettaton's pitiful body, giving it a piggyback.

  
  


It was an awkward walk, tracing the littered tendrils of the gargantuan plant. Vines and tendrils were everywhere, and they needed to find the source of it all. Thankfully, with Napstablook's keen sense of hearing, he was able to hear faint voices of the flower and was able to pinpoint which direction it was coming from.

  
  


The challenge was there were too many rooms in this alternate reality, and they didn't know which rooms they were supposed to go to, just so they could go to the source of the voice. Sans remained quiet the whole time, not daring to utter a word.

  
  


Seeing as the other two younger members of the group were scared to speak, even to each other, Shysta knew he had to break the ice. No matter how “socially awkward” he was (his name WAS Shysta, after all), he needed to take some actions necessary when push comes to shove.

  
  


“Sans. I think it's about time you explained yourself to us.” Shysta said in a low tone. “Perhaps we can be of help, the way you're helping us find our family right now.”

  
  


“...” Sans didn't reply, but he just stopped in his tracks. The others did too... the anxiety building up with the two younger members seemed almost too unbearable in this agonizing silence.

  
  


“...” Shysta quieted down as well, and made sure that he was in front of the other two.

  
  


“I guess there's no hiding it, huh?” Sans turned to them, his eyes looking normal... but sad. “Now that my brother's gone, there's nothing else to live for. I... I don't really intend to go back alive after all this, now that I have no one else to go home to.”

  
  


“Sans.” the green Spook couldn't help but frown at this. “First of all, we value you. Second, you have someone else to go home to. I remember you hugging Alphys before we went ahead... isn't she someone precious to you?”

  
  


“... Yeah, someone precious I turned away from. I'm trash.” shrugged the hooded skeleton. He seemed pretty neutral about it, with his fixed grin... but he still sounded gloomy. “She's my childhood friend, and the only one I really cared about besides Pap. I really regret not being able to be there for her as we both grew up... and I was so happy when I heard she became the Royal Scientist back in the day.”

  
  


“What about... Dr. Gaster? What about him?” asked the green Spook cautiously, so as not to rile up any more unwanted feelings.

  
  


“He's my blood-related father. I don't even remember my mom, and we never really talked much about her except that she used to be such an amazing person. He raised both Pap and I on his own.” said the skeleton. He sighed, almost ever so resigned. “But all that's different now. Pap is gone, dad is... this, and I'm... I'm just trash with no ambition.”

  
  


Silence built up in the air again, as nobody else dared to speak. They were standing still in a dusty old corridor, as some tendrils started to slide to a certain direction. Madsta took notice of this first, and opted to follow it. The others followed suit.

  
  


They saw a giant tendril sliding along with the small ones, then the red Spook had an idea. He lunged at this, still with his arms holding Mettaton in a piggyback, and then locked his legs on it. The others followed what he did and rode on the tendril as well. Napstablook confirmed, with his hearing, that it was going in the right direction.

  
  


It was an unexpectedly smooth ride for them, as they passed through different corridors that felt like forever... they took this chance to finally open up to each other. Most especially Sans, who had kept so many things from so many people. Figuring that he no longer had anything to live for, he talked about his life as if it was his last will and testament.

  
  


“Before I continue, could anybody tell me at least how... Pap died? I want to know.” Sans replied, his voice almost completely monotonous.

  
  


The older Spook urged the younger ghost robots to explain themselves, and reassured them that it was fine, and that he was there to back them up no matter what happened. They explained everything, from when Napstablook was rescued, down to when they saw an unfamiliar cloaked figure in the scene when the flower slammed its giant vine on the poor skeleton.

  
  


“I see. So one of these vines are what killed him.” Sans closed his eyes and paused in silence for a little bit. “Sigh... well. Anyway, you all want to know more about me, right?”

  
  


They all stayed quiet and stared at him intently.

  
  


“Very well.”

  
  


And so he began to narrate his story...

  
  


***

  
  


As a young boy, Sans went to school at day, and went home to his family afterwards. Most of his days were spent in the laboratory, as his dad was a scientist after all. His father, Dr. Gaster, was the prestigious Royal Scientist that worked alongside King Asgore himself, leader of all of Underground. However, even when given this esteemed title, he remained humble, and thus was admired by many people.

  
  


Sans was so proud of his father. He became popular in school because he was the son of the Royal Scientist, and still some were quite... jealous, of him. He just shrugged this off, because all he knew was that his dad was his hero.

  
  


At the time, as a young boy, he had a little brother named Papyrus. Now, young Papyrus would always be left in the nursery of the Underground Castle along with other children. This was the place where he and his best friend Undyne met. She was one of the people that the Skeleton family liked dearly, and it wasn't long until she was considered one of the closest family friends they had, and treated so much like she was part of the family.

  
  


Now... Papyrus may have had a best friend... but Sans...

  
  


He still hadn't found one, not yet, anyway. But he met her not long after they met Undyne. And this all happened in Underground Castle's laboratory, since they hadn't established a different lab branch in the Hotlands just yet.

  
  


Sans was just minding his own business as he tried to mix chemicals again, out of both mischief and curiosity. His father was away, talking to other scientists. Among them were different kinds of monsters; a lizard couple, some rabbits, and dogs... he didn't care much about them. He wasn't too fond of talking to adults, but adults found him... adorable, to an extent, before they find out what a brat he really was.

  
  


“You're not supposed to mix that, you know!”

  
  


Sans was alarmed to find another voice just beside him. He thought they were all gathered in one corner, talking about nerd stuff...

  
  


But wait, this voice was different. It sounded... young, not like those worn-out grownups! He turned his head and stopped his evil concoction.

  
  


“who are you??” asked the child Sans as he quizzically looked at the fellow child.

  
  


She was a young lizard monster, her scales a hue of amber. She wore glasses and wore a casual attire, in contrast to his school uniform attire.

  
  


“I can't believe we go to the same school and you act like that!” she pouted at this. It seems that they weren't classmates... “But boys first! What's your name?”

  
  


“uh...... sans. and you?” the skeleton seemed a little annoyed.

  
  


“Alphys. My mom and dad work here. You don't see me around at school? I see you all the time. Well, I guess I can't blame you, because you're popular.” the young Alphys sneered at this, with a smirk.

  
  


“yeah, popular people get around a lot... too much, in fact. sorry i didn't see you~” he winked, as if to taunt her.

  
  


“That's alright! At least I have some brains.” Alphys giggled. She looked at the concoction that Sans had been working on. “Because... well... hmm. I bet you that you can't make that chemical NOT explode!”

  
  


“i'll make it explode so bad!” Sans seemed provoked. He started to mess with different chemicals and poured them in a flask all at once, and Alphys giggled at this... but she soon started to feel a little worried.

  
  


“Uh... if you'll please excuse me...” she grinned nervously and then went behind a table.

  
  


…

  
  


BOOM!

  
  


There was a blue explosion from the mixture that Sans had made, and the other scientists were alarmed at this. They all rushed to Sans, who was blue from head to toe, from the powdery explosion. Alphys peeked from behind her table, completely unscathed.

  
  


“Sans, what on earth were you doing?!” Gaster sighed at this. He started to clean him up, and was thankful the chemicals weren't harmful at all. After cleaning up his son, he instructed him to go out of the lab and not to go out of the castle grounds. If he did any more mischief, he was told that he will be sent to the nursery with the toddlers.

  
  


Both he and Alphys were sent out of the laboratory as the adults cleaned up.

  
  


Alphys was giggling at this, she almost snorted from time to time. “I can't believe you did that! That was actually... pretty cool.”

  
  


“yeah, because you didn't get that thing to go boom on your face!” the skeleton groaned at this and then he picked his nose. “look at that! look at what you made me do! my snot's still blue!”

  
  


“...” Alphys bit her lip at this, trying so hard not to laugh... but she imploded with laughter. She laughed so hard that tears came out. “Oh my gosh! You're so funny!”

  
  


“...” Sans frowned a little at this, but then he stared at his own snot again. He did find it pretty funny and laughed along with her.

  
  


***

  
  


“You two... got along with blue snot.” Shysta couldn't help but be entertained by this, back in reality.

  
  


Napstablook and Madsta looked like they were giggling to themselves as they listened to the skeleton's story. This was almost too cute for them to handle, as they didn't expect Sans to have such a past. They didn't know what to expect. Sans was a total mystery to them.

  
  


“i guess you could say that.” Sans shrugged with a grin. “alphys was one of a kind. she laughed at everything and... well, found everything about me funny. even my puns. i found out that she and undyne knew each other even back then so... it was a good coincidence that she became my best friend, while undyne became pap's best friend.”

  
  


“That's cute.” Shysta chuckled at this.

  
  


And Sans continued further on... he told them the different ways they spent their times together. There would be times they would play different games in the laboratory, like tag, or hide and seek, or even treasure hunt! Sometimes they would be in the castle gardens to look at different flowers, or to reenact a play.

  
  


And still there was this one time that Sans told them... that he and Alphys went to an echo flower.

  
  


“An echo flower?” Shysta asked, evidently curious.

  
  


“yeah... we went up to it and then... sigh.” Sans looked forlorn. “we both spoke out our wishes to it. we made sure the flower was unreachable to anyone else... so that when we both grew up, we can go back to it and listen to our childhood selves.”

  
  


He began to narrate again...

  
  


***

  
  


It was another common afternoon. Was it sunny? Rainy? Who knows? In the Underground, the natural weather was all the same. If they wanted precipitation and other weather factors, they had to do it artificially. The snow back in Snowdin? … That was unexpectedly real.

  
  


“The wide distribution of the snow was due to years and years of scientists' experiments! At least, that's what mom and dad told me!”

  
  


Alphys was talking to Sans while they both made a snowman just outside of the local shop in Snowdin. They did this every once in a while after school, if they weren't off to make fun of echo flowers back in the Waterfall area.

  
  


Sometimes the two would hang out in the library, or at the bar to get a burger. It depends on who wins rock, paper, scissors. If Sans won, they'd eat at Barbie's (now renamed as “Grillby's”), and eat different burgers or barbeques. If Alphys won, they'd stay at least two hours minimum in the library. Sans was often caught sleeping on books.

  
  


As the two were making snowmen, Sans suddenly thought of an idea.

  
  


“hey, alph.” Sans called out. “i wanna go stargazing. could you come with me?”

  
  


“Huh? Sure! I like stargazing.”

  
  


They both set out to go by the Waterfall area and looked up at the myriads of stars in the star room. Makeshift stars stuck in the ceiling that are in fact, gems. The place was calm and serene, surrounded by cold cave walls with quiet water and luminous cyan flowers. They walked around and Sans stared up in awe.

  
  


“isn't it beautiful?” Sans said as he looked up.

  
  


“Those aren't even real stars!” Alphys replied with a slight smirk.

  
  


“yeah, i know. but they'd do... right? i always wanted to have a telescope business to just... watch them, you know?” Sans replied to this, not minding if his friend was taunting him or not.

  
  


They looked around a bit more, this time, they looked at the echo flowers all around them. Some people, especially young kids, were speaking to the flowers. They could see that some were poking innocent fun at it, and still some are... just being kids, with their choice of language, laughing at the clueless flowers.

  
  


“say... do you think we'd be friends forever?” asked the skeleton to his lizard friend. He sounded unusually sincere.

  
  


“Wha? Why'd you ask that all of a sudden? You're so silly!” Alphys giggled at this. She was actually a little touched at the question, but didn't want to let it show for fear he'd taunt her for being cheesy.

  
  


“well... you know, i just wanted to ask!”

  
  


“Of course, silly! Why wouldn't we be?”

  
  


Sans jumped up and down for some reason... the young lizard looked at him with a weird stare. Later on, he jumped across the water to go to another part of the caves and offered the girl to do the same. She seemed very reluctant to do so.

  
  


“I can't jump that far!” whined the little girl with a small pout.

  
  


“come on! urghhh fine, i'll go ask one of our pets to help you!”

  
  


The little boy snapped his fingers and out of nowhere, a levitating skull of what seems to be animalistic in structure picked up the little girl and then morphed to the other side across the waters for her to be with her friend. She didn't seem to panic much at this, but she was surprised.

  
  


It seems that the Blasters that his family takes care of are regarded as “pets”. Actually, these things were made by Dr. Gaster himself, to assist him in his work, as well as to provide entertainment and assistance to his sons as well. The Blasters often help Sans with his homework, or help Papyrus with his milk bottle. Sometimes when they get a little frustrated, they eat Sans' homework. It was hard to tell if Sans was lying about his homework getting eaten by the Blasters or not.

  
  


“Next time, warn me when you're getting your pets!” Alphys giggled as she stood in front of Sans.

  
  


“hehe sure sure! but anyway... here. let's talk to this echo flower. i made sure this one would never have passersby.”

  
  


“Huh? Why?”

  
  


“... so that when we grow up, we can go back to it and hear what we had to say as kids! you know?”

  
  


“... So... what do you want us to say?”

  
  


“... well...”

  
  


The two stared at the lone echo flower standing in front of them. It was isolated, and it seemed well-protected with an invisible field that Sans had just activated after Alphys got transported to the other side. Nobody will ever be able to get to it but the both of them, and it was only to be tended to by them when it needs to be watered or given fertilizer.

  
  


“Never give up your dreams!” Alphys started.

  
  


“fight for your dreams together.” Sans added.

  
  


“Alphys and Sans, best friends forever!”

  
  


“sans and alphys, together forever!”

  
  


They giggled at this and then Sans took his notebook from his bag and wrote something down. The lizard peered over as her friend showed it to her, and she stifled a giggle.

  
  


“Congratulations, Royal Scientist! Or Royal *Scientists*! Your younger selves are so proud of you! Keep up the good work!”

  
  


They both giggled to themselves so much, that they lied down on the ground laughing. They started to slowly calm down and just decided to look up at the stars again after they have done this. They sighed, steadily dreaming of their future. They wanted to follow the steps of their parents; and they were aware that they could compete against each other for the position of the Royal Scientist someday, but they promised to do their best and accept whoever gets chosen.

  
  


But for now? They were kids attending classes! An ace student who spends her time wallowing in books if not watching anime, and a smart, but troublemaking student who often gets his dad called in at school for replacing cups of coffee with paint water.

  
  


They made the most of their childhood as they basically grew up together.

  
  


***

  
  


“we were so young and full of hope then.”

  
  


They all felt touched at this. Napstablook managed to raise a question. “Did you... ever get to get back to it?”

  
  


“... no.” answered the skeleton. “we... grew apart, you see. i wish things went the way they did. so carefree... so happy... but... all good things had to come to an end.”

  
  


They all grew concerned about this. Just what was it that happened? Why did he look like he had such a good relationship with his father, then all of a sudden... it seemed all so different now. There were so many questions they wanted to raise, but they couldn't rush him.

  
  


That was when Shysta remembered something crucial.

  
  


“Sans... Madsta and I met Alphys as a child.” he said. And to this, Sans looked like he understood it perfectly. The red robot, as forgetful as he was... remembered that he had shared his story with the skeleton brothers prior to this.

  
  


“mads told me about it.” Sans nodded. “alphys was looking for me back then... and you met someone who gave him that scar.”

  
  


“... So you HAVE heard about it.” Shysta nodded. “Sans, if I remember correctly... that person who gave Madsta a scar closely resembled your father. Could you tell us what really happened? Why... how did it come to this?”

  
  


Another piercing silence...

  
  


…

  
  


Nobody could ever get used to them, even if they happened frequently in this draining journey they were going on.

  
  


“everything was my fault, and so i had to pay for it.” Sans could only reply, in a resigned tone.

  
  


They all stared at him with so many mixed emotions, along with curiosity, but... before anybody could raise another question... the vine they were riding on stopped abruptly. All of them, including Sans, came back to their senses and found themselves in a different looking room that led to different hallways... and a grand door.

  
  


A grand door.

  
  


Napstablook closed his eyes... and then nodded. “G-Guys... they're inside. A-Are we ready for this...?”

  
  


“...”

  
  


They all just stared at the intimidating door looming over them, full of anxiety and uncertainty...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took so long to make. It was a little hard gaining motivation after all that's happened, especially with the parts with Gaster's past here. I'll keep writing this fic slowly but surely though, so stay tuned!
> 
> And... the MadstaBlooky is strong in this one. Heh.


End file.
